The Summer of Bonnie and Matt and      Damon
by crowskisses
Summary: What happens over summer when there is nobody sober to be the voice of reason? What happens when demons come calling? The summer of Bonnie and Matt...and Damon.  Accompaniment story to "I Love College Series."
1. I love jail?

Summary: What happens over summer when there is nobody sober to be the voice of reason? What happens when demons come calling? The summer of Bonnie and Matt...and Damon. Accompaniment story to "I Love College Series." 2 -3 parter.

Disclaimer: All in good fun, I own nothing.

Rating: T for language and some minor adult themes

A/N: Reviews are cherished and adored, they're as good as pumpkin pie!

**Part One: I Love... Jail?**

Matt woke up slowly on something that was very hard, his head was pounding and his whole body ached. He laid there with his eyes shut for a moment, trying to wish away the pain. It wasn't working, so he opened them sitting up at the shuffling next to him. He looked around in confusion, since when were there bars in his bedroom and a toilet in the corner.

"Morning, Mutt." Damon's dark voice came from somewhere above and to his left. Matt turned, looking up at the vampire leaning against the wall as far from the other burly man he could get.

Matt stood himself, eyeing the other two men in the room with them. "Where am I?"

"Jail." There was no amusement in Damon's gaze.

"What?" Matt spun around, eyes bulging, but there was no denying they were enclosed in bars with a toilet and very dirty looking men. "Why?"

"I have no idea." Damon's voice was clearly hoping Matt would illuminate him on how they arrived in this situation. Matt was wondering how Damon could even end up in jail, couldn't he just compel his way out?

"I know." The big man with his head in his hands said, looking up at Matt.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Damon snapped at him.

The guy shrugged, "I don't know why you're here, princess." He turned back to Matt, "You started the brawl last night that put the rest of us in here."

"What?" Matt asked searching his mind for any desperate information. Why on earth would he have started a brawl?

A door to their left opened, revealing Sheriff Mossberg and a very icy looking Meredith. "Honeycutt, Salvatore. You're free to go."

He unlocked the door and Matt followed Damon out of the cell in a daze, finding that he had to limp. Damon's low voice was already accusing Meredith, "You left us in there all night?"

Meredith glanced cooly back at them as they followed the Sheriff into the station, "I thought you could take care of yourself, Damon." She paused, the hard eyes softening as she looked at Matt. "We didn't know that's where you were. We just got back to the States this morning on a tip."

Stefan was at the small desk, his green eyes dilating as he took several files from the deputy. "Delete the computer records."

"What happened?" Damon demanded, reaching for the files in Stefan's hand. Stefan held them out of the way, "Later."

In the silent minutes that followed Matt found that his arm was really starting to throb, why were they all just standing around? Someone else could come in. "Why aren't we leaving?"

Meredith's arms were crossed over herself as she leaned against the wall, "We're waiting for Bonnie."

"Bonnie?" Two voices: one startled, human and unnaturally loud the other a choked velvet.

She appeared at her name, stumbling in after Sheriff Mossberg. She looked worse than Matt felt with a black eye and a swollen jaw. She was also handcuffed and not very patiently waiting for the Sheriff to remove them. Matt felt a protective fury rising him, he was going to get whoever did that to her. And why, why was she being treated like some violent criminal when Matt and Damon had simply walked out of their cell.

Damon was stepping forward angrily, held back by a hand each from Stefan and Meredith. "How dare you..."

The Sheriff turned and Bonnie was rubbing her wrists, "You're free to go Miss McCullough, but if you ever so much as get a speeding ticket in my county you're going to jail."

She nodded and then went around him, giving them all a very sheepish glance. Her voice was hoarse, "What happened?"

"In the car." Meredith's voice was cool, but she wrapped an arm around Bonnie all the same leading her from the station. Matt found himself staring after her, was her voice hoarse from screaming or all the lacerations on her neck? If Damon had done anything...

"You left my redbird in jail? Overnight?" Damon's fury was reserved for his brother alone, stalking his steps outside.

"Technically, her father was the one who refused to bail her out. And I was on a plane." Stefan's voice didn't sound happy about it either, but there were bags under the green eyes.

Huge brown eyes turned back to Stefan, the hoarse voice choked. "My dad knows? This is bad...very bad."

…...

The previous night had started out innocently enough. Matt had been pulling his car into the driveway at the same time Bonnie was walking up the walk. He'd gotten out in a great mood, he'd just broken his own mile record time. "Hey Bonnie."

She smiled at him, warmth in the brown eyes that almost offset the bags underneath. "Hey."

He dug his keys out, opening the door for them. "What do you want to do for our dinner date tonight? Pizza ok?"

She gave him a grateful smile, as she slipped past him into the door. "I"m not up to cook, so that would be great."

He followed her in, grinning from ear to ear. She was so much more open to the idea of them dating when it was just the two of them in the house, summer stretching long and golden before them. There had been movie nights full of laughter and stargazing full of kisses. There had even been a night where he made fondue.

She turned back to him with her own smile and Matt heard the creak on the stairs. He had a good guess who it might be and his stomach plummeted. Still he forced cheer into his voice. "I just need to shower and then we can get going."

"Sounds good." She agreed easily enough, still with the silly grin on her face.

"It does!" Matt bent down and gave her a small kiss, careful not to touch her with his sweaty clothes. "I'll be down in a little while." Then he headed for the stairs and the tight black eyes he would get to pass on his way. Matt knew Damon had seen the kiss, had heard how happy Bonnie was and had come running back.

…...

Bonnie turned to find Damon at the bottom of the staircase, lounging against the banister, a glass of black magic in hand. She started. "Hey. I didn't know you'd come back in town."

"Somebody has to watch over you this summer, little bird." The dark voice was subdued as he took in the dark circles under her eyes.

"Matt's here." She tried to keep her voice light, but it was a struggle with the piercing gaze trained on her. She could see her summer of possibilities running down the drain.

Damon straightened from the banister, moving slowly around her to take the rest of her in. "He's clearly doing a wonderful job. Does he have any idea how exhausted you are?"

"I'm not exhausted," She protested heading up the stairs. "Just pulling extra shifts at the hospital for some money."

He followed her, "He might believe that, but I don't, redbird. Working yourself to death won't make you sleep any easier."

"It certainly helps." She responded going into her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She pulled off her scrubs and tossed them into the hamper, grabbing her towel from behind the door. She wrapped it around herself and almost screamed when she glanced in the mirror. Damon was lounging across her bed, his reflection had a catlike smile that was still there when she spun on him. "How dare you!"

He sat up, the grin remaining intact. "Have you told any of the others about what you've seen?"

She clutched the towel to herself, bravado intact. "And what is it that you think I've seen?"

He rose off the bed fluidly, coming closer. "You're upcoming trip to the Infernal Court. Our very own Persephone on her twenty first birthday."

Bonnie managed to keep her feet firmly planted as he came closer, "Who told you that?"

"Sage." Damon was close enough now to be spiking her heartbeat, he smiled at the fluttering he could hear. "I'm not going to let you go."

"It's my choice and it's between Sage and I. Nobody else." Her voice didn't waver, this offer was hers alone, the only way to keep the others safe. He'd promised it wasn't dangerous..

"So you'd like to think." His black eyes were incredibly close and Bonnie jumped as her back hit the dresser, when had she backed away from him?

"Don't try this again, Damon. I'm not afraid of you anymore." She hadn't been for years, but when he was pressed up against her like this with his dark aura brushing hers at the edges she wondered how she couldn't be terrified.

"Pity. You should be." His eyes were watching her neck. "Your boyfriend is."

"He's not my boyfriend, Damon." It was a sigh, maybe that was where she and Matt were headed, maybe not. They were definitely something right now, but it wouldn't matter in a few months anyway.

His fingers trailed along the blue veins and Bonnie's heartbeat jumped in response. "Then you won't mind if I have a little taste, cara? Your bloodsong is what brought me back here."

She was mute for moment, his darkness and bloodlust like a drug to her psychic senses. He touched her heartbeat and it rose in response, familiarity and adrenaline responding. Then she found she could speak again, though the words were hollow. "I would mind, Damon."

He stepped back the tiniest of an inch, "Pity, because I'm starving and the only other one of you here is Mutt." The black eyes caught hers and held them, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I told him a little story about your fate." He stepped back again, allowing her a little bit of breathing room, his smile dark. "And I'm sure he wouldn't mind having a few moments of access into my memories. Think he'd like that?"

Bonnie shut her eyes, willing calmness where she had none. When had things with Damon gotten away from stolen kisses and back to threats? "Are you blackmailing me?"

"If that's what you'd like to call it, redbird. I'm simply offering you a choice and outlining the consequences.." The dark voice was closer now, whispering in her ear. She could hear the hurt underlying the words, the whispers of jealousy that had him stalking her. She turned her head the slightest bit, her acceptance of his terms.

…...

Matt took his time getting ready and when he found Bonnie she was in the kitchen, sitting at the table holding an ice pack to her neck. His feet stopped when he saw it, a touch of anger rising. "Are you ok?"

She glanced up, letting him pull the ice pack away to look at the two swollen red holes. "I'm fine."

It hadn't reached her eyes and Matt frowned, trying his best to phrase what he meant correctly. He didn't want it to sound like an accusation. It did anyway. "Why do you keep sharing blood with him? I don't understand why you... keep choosing to do that when he's got a city full of donors."

She stood and he could see how contrite she was, "We didn't share...he took blood." She grabbed Matt's hands, "I'm sorry, Matt, but sometimes Damon doesn't really give you a choice."

That spurred even more anger in Matt, "Of course he doesn't. He never has, he takes what he wants when he wants."

Bonnie shifted on her feet, giving him a small hug. "Look, I don't want to talk about him. I just want to forget he's back. Let's go get some pizza and beer."

He hugged her back, his anger melting away as quickly as it had come. She hadn't gone running back into Damon's dark arms, she wanted to stay right here in the light. A small chaste kiss though he wanted more. "Let's go."

…...

Damon had been drinking for hours now, perched on a bar stool while he tried to drain away his thoughts. Why had he come back to this godforsaken state? He truly did feel bad for almost ripping out his little bird's neck, but she needed to be taught the lesson. Who was she to think she could bargain her life with Sage? To keep secrets from him, didn't she know that he always found out in the end.

He'd been watching the women come and go, comparing them in his head and finding they all came up short. None of them had what he wanted, secrets, adventure or the rare taste of power in human blood. All of the women here were so painfully ordinary. The door opened again and Damon turned to pass more judgement, but he only let out a long exhale of his breath. "In all the gin joints in all the towns..."

Bonnie was staggering into the bar, Matt's hands possessively around her waist. Damon pulled himself further into the darkness ensuring he wouldn't be seen even if they did decide to look. They didn't, Bonnie taking the blond directly to the dance floor. Damon watched for a moment, turning back to the bartender. "You might as well just put the bottle on my tab."

A nod and then Damon had a date for the night, a lovely bottle of scotch. He poured himself a drink, turning back around in his chair to watch the dance floor. There was a surprising amount of swing in those little hips and an unsurprising lack of grace on the quarterback's part. The girls a few paces over from Damon seemed to have latched onto this concept as well, and he found himself eavesdropping on their scattered conversation. Their outrage came in bits and pieces over a few songs, interspersed between mundane concerns he couldn't be bothered to listen to. "That's not even dancing. If they're going to act like that they should just go home already."

"They do live together." The girl's tone made it into a salacious detail.

The first girl was still angry, clearly she had a history with Matt. "I guess she's just marking him as hers. You know since she had that thing going with the _other _guy they live with."

Damon thought it was the exact opposite, Matt publicly marking Bonnie in a surprising move in their little game for ownership. The third friend had big wide set brown eyes that reminded Damon of Bonnie, her voice was gentler. "Cut her some slack guys, she's really nice."

"She's strange." The first one snapped, turning back to watch Matt leading Bonnie towards a booth. "I don't get what he sees in her. She's so plain looking and has all of those weird fits."

The first girl was sexy, one of those girls who exuded sensuality from every pore, the exact type of girl that would never appreciate Bonnie's beauty. The exact type of girl Damon could have fun with. The third one opened her mouth again, her eyes falling on Damon. She blushed, but directed her next question to him. "She's not strange, she just has epilepsy right?"

He put on his most charming smile and picked up his bottle of scotch, maybe the night wasn't wasted after all. He joined their group, "Si, the seizures can make her say strange things sometimes. How are you _ragazze _tonight?"

The sensual one was straightening up, flipping her hair over her shoulder quarterback forgotten. "A lot better now that you've joined us. How about yourself?"

He smiled, but with his eyesight he unfortunately could still see their booth clearly across the black room. Bonnie was in Matt's lap, allowing the mutt to cause her to giggle, not even glancing at the crowd as his face got closer to hers. Damon forced his attention back to the girl, "Just dandy...though I fully intend not to be able to remember my night. Care to join me?"

Misery loved company.

…...

At the diner Bonnie was crammed in the middle of the booth between the other jail birds and everyone was still putting together pieces of the hazy night. She took a sip of her coffee only to hear Matt choke on his. His voice was shocked and furious as he leaned over Bonnie to address Damon. "You were trying to steal her last night! Take her home!"

Everyone turned to look at him, judgement filling their faces. Under the bevy stares Damon gave a small half smile, "I don't know why any of you look shocked at that."

Meredith, the one person who didn't look shocked, took a sip of her own coffee. Her voice agreed with Damon, "It's certainly not out of character for you."

Stefan made a small face and murmured something about it being the basis for his brother's character. Bonnie glanced at Damon, trying her best not to let the small smile escape. She succeeded, her face hurt too much to smile. Her voice was hesitant, "Was I bad last night? I mean really far gone?"

"You were certainly making a spectacle of yourself, little bird." Damon could remember that much of the night, the reason he'd started drinking the liquor straight. He'd never thought she would go in for the amount of PDA that had occurred.

"Oh no." She dropped her head into her hands, trying to hide in embarrassment. Her phone beeped and she dug it out of her purse, what little color she had left draining away. "Do they have today's paper here?"

"Why?" Matt asked, horror crashing across his face. As quarterback his arrest was definitely not only newsworthy, but suspension worthy.

"I'll go see, shall I?" Damon moved from the booth smoothly.

…...

Bonnie left the dance floor with Matt and when he mumbled something about the restroom she looked around for someone she knew. There! She headed for her friend at the bar, giving her a stumbling hug. "Hey Gracie!"

The taller girl hugged her back, her voice excited. "What's going on? You and Matt official?"

Bonnie looked at the rest of the group, finding incredibly black eyes staring her down from a bar stool. "What? No hello for your favorite roommate?"

Damon! Her heart jumped. Darling, devilish Damon! She staggered towards him, climbing his barstool to the best of her ability, like a little drunken kitten. He steadied her with amusement and she chirped at him, "Hi, favorite!"

"Ciao." His lips touched one of her cheeks and moved to the other, and that wasn't quite enough for Bonnie. She caught his lips with her own as they were moving back to her left cheek, and it definitely wasn't proper. "I never said welcome back."

Damon licked his own lips, settling her onto his knee with a quirked eyebrow. She found herself blushing under the gaze, trying to remember why she'd stopped kissing him in the first place. His voice was slurred, the italian accent more pronounced. "How drunk are you?"

She debated this, the sticker on her cheek catching the light as she crinkled her nose. Damon pulled it off, giving it a sniff, "Oh, redbird this isn't good."

Bonnie had certainly begun to feel the world spiral out of control after the sticker had been put on her face, but in a good way. The girl next to them was having quiet hysterics, being hushed by her two more sober friends. It didn't work and she turned to Bonnie, indignation burning in her voice. "You are such a slut! You're here with Matt and...and on his lap!"

Bonnie turned towards the girl and felt Damon tighten his grip on her waist. She looked the girl up and down, and knew her voice was lacking the snap she intended it. "I don't like you." Then her foot darted out and kicked the barstool out from under the sensual girl. Ever since she'd sassed Shinichi when he was throwing her out a window she'd found she had quite the nasty side.

The girl landed with a thud and Bonnie returned her attention to a stunned Damon. Her voice was amazingly prim. "She belonged on the floor with the trash."

Damon moved Bonnie off his stool, standing himself with a stagger. "I think...I think I should take you home."

She wound her fingers into his, "Can we get fooooood?"

Matt staggered into both of them, throwing his arm around Bonnie and Damon. Too far gone and soaring too high on having gotten the girl to bother to be rude. "Hey guys! Lana why are you on the floor?"

Bonnie turned her face up to him for a kiss, smiling. Damon shrugged Matt's arm off like it was a snake, stepping away from the situation. Matt pulled away, his blue eyes puzzling over Bonnie's hand grasping Damon's. She let go of Matt, Damon was staggering backwards, trying to shake her off. Her voice was a plea. "Where are you going?"

He looked back, the black darker than usual. "Anywhere but here."

Bonnie clung to his hand, pleading. "But I don't want you to go!"

He snarled at her and Bonnie found herself jumping back into Matt, fear racing through her heart. "If I stay I'll rip -" Then he turned and was gone.

Bonnie turned back to Matt, letting him hold her up. "I have to go after him. He's hurting and hungry."

"No. He's his own problem." Matt protested, clutching her waist tighter.

"Yes." She pulled back.

"No." Matt's voice was pleading. "We're on a date..."

She contemplated this in the circle of his arms. "Would we get to go on another if I go after him?"

"No." The response was immediate. The blue of his eyes were darker than usual, "No more chances, Bonnie."

…...

Bonnie found herself blushing at the table, shooting a small glance at Matt from under her eyelashes. How much did he remember? Not much it seemed, his attention was focused on Meredith. "So why are you guys back in the States?"

Her voice was calm, "We got a tip."

Bonnie looked up and gave Meredith an encouraging smile, maybe this time she would find her brother. "Where at?"

Meredith's opened her mouth, but shut it as Damon tossed the newspaper onto the center of the table. Bonnie stared at it and felt her world spin wildly out of control. Matt cursed next to her reaching for it, but Meredith's slim fingers were quickest. The front page had been two pictures: one of Bonnie punching the sheriff and the other of a furious Matt with Bonnie in one hand, fist firmly connected with the sheriff's face.

Bonnie stuttered, "It was that demon...there were no bruises on the sheriff today, were there?"

Stefan shook his head in dismay, "None. Not a mark and if Matt hit him there should have been something."

Matt's voice was equally unhappy. "I hit him hard enough to knock a man out. We can't compel this away can we?"

Meredith glanced up from the article, "No, we can't. This article is trash. Mostly eyewitness accounts of the brawl and your" those grey eyes took in Bonnie and Matt, "previous behavior of the night."

Damon was still standing, smile in place though there was a small tic in his jaw. "I told you were making a spectacle out of yourself, little bird."

She blushed, glancing up to meet the black eyes, but his back was already turned, "I'm hungry."

She turned back to the table, feeling suddenly tired. She let her head drop to Matt's shoulder, he would know more about their night as soon as he got the paper in front of him. She wasn't sure how she felt about that or how he would feel about it. Well, he would probably be ecstatic.

Matt's voice was slow, working out what he could remember. "The sheriff hit Bonnie and I didn't like it...I had orders to protect her?"

Stefan's eyes held no answers and Matt slung an arm around Bonnie with a tender glance, shifting her top. "I do think I started that brawl...I hit a lot of people."

Stefan's voice was startled, "Bonnie, what happened to your shoulder?"

She glanced down at where her top had shifted and pulled it down a bit more to look. "It looks like a bite mark...but that's not where Damon..." She blushed again.

"Did I?" Matt asked hesitantly, evidently remembering a bit of lips on a dance floor.

Stefan was eyeing it intently, what little color he had draining away. "No. It's not hu—american."

Her heart dropped out of her stomach and everything turned a little grey. She could vaguely hear Stefan's too calm voice deciding they needed to check and see if there were more. Bonnie opened her mouth in horror, "Its not like that paranormal movie is it? It can't...can't take me over?"

Meredith was already out of the booth, her calm hands reaching for her. "Let's go to the bathroom and check."

…...

Bonnie had pulled her arm away from Matt's heading out of the club into the street. "Damon?"

Matt had followed, staggering after her with a crowd. "Let him go, Bonnie! He's fine."

"He's not fine!" She protested looking around desperately, something in the air felt off. The world was spinning slightly, darkness hovering at the edge of the street.

"Bonnie, stop! God, why can't you see what's right in front of you?" Matt's breath hitched, his blue eyes so dark with emotions they almost matched Elena's. "I love you and he doesn't, he can't." His voice dropped, bitterness dropping in as he realized they had a crowd. "Maybe he won't."

"He died for me. That's something." She screamed it back at him from halfway across the street, swaying on her feet. Anger had come to her quickly, coursing in her veins like wildfire.

"One fucking time!" He threw up his arms, gesturing. The crowd around them was milling, confused and fascinated. This was better than tv. "I'd die for you a thousand times if I had to! He also left you in hell, forgetting that?"

She was shaking her head, tears hovering on her eyelashes. Her voice was quieter, the yell gone, though the earnest passion still remained. "I want to love you Matt, but I don't want to hurt you. And I will."

"Well, well well, what do we have here?" Bonnie spun at the deep voice turning to face the dark italian vampire hovering in the mouth of an alley. "A fight about moi? Come here, Bonnie."

Her psychic senses were going haywire, that was not, could not be Damon. Matt's voice was coming closer to her back, "Leave her alone, Damon."

Bonnie was still trying to think over the swirling emotions and overwhelming fuzziness the alcohol had left her with. All she could manage was a weak, "What did you call me?"

"Bonnie." It was a snap, "What else would I call you? I said come."

Bonnie spun back to Matt, he was only a few feet from her now. Her heart was racing, warning bells in her eyes. She was willing him to see what she could, to look at her and know the way Meredith or Elena would have. But he wasn't seeing, he was raging, yelling something again. Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She was too drunk for this. That was a demon and she couldn't protect herself, let alone a clueless Matt too. She had no plan B or C, not even a plan A. She turned back to the thing with Damon's face, "I'm coming."

She took a step, finding Matt moving past her. She grabbed at his arm, he didn't understand. He was too drunk for this. She was too drunk for this, but she had to do something! She had to protect both of them, because if that thing was calling her that meant it was time to go _now. _That meant Sage had lied. "Nononono. Matt, please."

He paused to look at her and she couldn't help but see his future flash in her mind. If he went into that alley he wasn't coming out again. She took a shaky breath and clutched at his hands, willing him to read what she was trying to say in her eyes. Matt was being stubborn though and refusing to see what Elena or Meredith would have instantly. The dark voice came again, "Bonnie. Now."

Tears were threatening and she sent out the silent call, hoping and praying Damon would still come. _Damon! Damon come back and take care of Matt. I'm going into an alley with that demon._

Then Bonnie grabbed Matt's face and pulled him down to her level and kissed him. Really kissed him. Kissed him until she tasted salt, kissed him until her insides were shaking. Kissed him until she was positive his insides were liquid, then she let go. He was still bent, the blue of his eyes darkened with feeling. "Bonnie, I -"

"I know." She cut across him, planting her foot the way Meredith had shown her. "And that's why I have to do this." Then she pulled her fist back and pushed forward with all of her weight behind it, her fist catching his throat.

He went down choking and she turned and ran for the alley, wishing for once he could hear what she was thinking. She was sorry and she thought she might love him too. She made it to the alley, feeling the soft whoosh of a minor dimensional shift, tripping over her own feet in her haste. She fell, scraping her hands and knees on concrete. She watched the dark boots approach and scrabbled backwards onto her haunches. She straightened up, her voice quivering. "You're not Damon."

Damon's face tilted to the side, before changing into an unfamiliar one. "Very good. You're not sober."

She nodded miserably, her tremors increasing at this new face. The demon didn't seem to like this and changed into Matt, "Is this less frightening?"

"Worse." It was a mutter, she was terrified now. Terrified enough that her bravery would normally have kicked in, but not now. Now she only felt vaguely nauseous. "What do you want?"

"Your blood." The voice was dispassionate, the same tone Bonnie might use to order pancakes.

Bonnie shuddered again, hadn't Damon said he'd come back for something similar? With Elena in France it seemed Bonnie was the new demon magnet. She clung to the rules she'd outlined with Sage when she'd sold her soul. "You can't touch me."

_Damon?_ She tried calling again, trying her best to keep her face from giving anything away. The alley seemed to be swirling around her, her stomach beginning to churn violently. The demon stepped closer to her, "Orders change."

She managed to turn her face back to looking at him just in time to send her vomit all over him. Then she giggled at the expression on his face. She couldn't seem to stop giggling as his arm reached out to wrap around her throat. She was going to die here in this alley, giggling and covered in vomit.

…...

Damon had simply gone to another bar and now was standing across from a tiny, infuriating man who was refusing to serve him. "I'm sorry buddy, you're too drunk."

Damon's eyes snapped back to the small man, fury rising quickly to the surface. "Did you just call me 'buddy'?"

This time the man had the grace to stammer and take a tiny step back as he nodded. Damon nodded himself before leaning forward and holding the man's gaze, "Well, since we're buddies I want a double scotch on the rocks." He leaned back, letting a bit of his aura escape, "Or else."

The little man nodded, terrified, but stood his ground. Surely, he thought he'd seen worse and had worse threats thrown at him by the bigger college kids. "It's my bar and I serve who I want."

Damon ran out of patience, he was sobering up too quickly for his liking. He reached over the bar, picked up the little man and tossed him across the room. Then he jumped over the bar counter with a flourish, "It's my bar now."

And in his bar they didn't bother with such dirty glasses, opting instead to pour the liquor directly down his throat for a ten count. He glanced around his new bar, ignoring the horrified patrons and saw a black duffel bag. He alternated putting liquor bottles into the bag with his drinking, snarling at the one waitress who came close enough to ask what he was doing. "Party to go, bella. Care to join?"

She'd fled. He grabbed a handful of the limes, tossing them in with a smile. Bonnie only liked her drinks with lime, then remembering who Bonnie was sucking face with these days decided on a new game. Throw limes at the approaching police. It was good fun until he heard the tiny bird call in his mind, _Damon! Damon come back and take care of Matt. _

He threw another lime, ignoring her. The only taking care of Matt he would be doing was ripping his doggie throat out. But her voice came again, a touch of terror ringing behind resolve. _I'm going into an alley with that demon._

Now that, he couldn't ignore. That damn changeling demon from the infernal court had already been n their house, using a very creepy male Bonnie to do it. He picked up his bag of liquor and shot the police a bright white smile, "I must be going now, but we'll do this another time."

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten just how much he had to stagger in this state. He still made an escape due to a well timed sign collapse, but it lacked his usual panache. When he got back to the first bar Matt was freaking out running in and out of an alley. He looked at Damon, white around his eyes like a wild horse. "She went this way and now she's gone!"

Damon chose to ignore him, inspecting the alley with power at his eyes. There, a small little rip in space like a tiny dimensional zipper. He yanked it down stepping through and yanked it back up in human's face. He turned, "You called?"

But Bonnie wasn't available to chat, her eyes were rolled up in her head and her demon was doing something to her neck. Damon's fury lashed out on the entire alley like a white ash rod once had, "_Get away from my redbird." _

The thing screeched at him before taking off in the other direction, taking the small shift in space with it. The alley became human again, with stars above and frantic people in the street. He was already shaking his little bird, "Wake up."

Her eyelids fluttered and she gave a small moan. He shook her again, harder. "Wake up, redbird."

Her eyes opened and a hand flew to her throat, she tested the already purpling skin before giving him a weak smile. It was a terribly hoarse whisper, "I was going to save myself."

"I can see that." The answer was wry, but his relief was genuine.

"Water? Drink?" It was a croak, her voice dry enough to crack.

He went to his abandoned duffel, opening it and pulling out options. He carried two back. "No water, but I have vodka or rum."

One shaky hand went to the vodka and he held it up to her mouth, pouring it down until she sputtered from the burn. He helped her to her feet, "What happened?"

She swayed in his arms, her voice a soft mutter. "Um, I punched Matt and then the thing tried to choke me...It can change faces, Damon. "

A demon that could alter it's form...that meant something but Damon couldn't grasp what. He'd had the thought just a moment ago, but lost everything at seeing her in this state. "Did it bite you?"

She was weaving them towards the entrance of the alley, glancing backwards at the vomit. "Not sure. I'm going to kill Sage."

"You won't be the first that's tried." Damon picked up his duffel bag and heard it jingle.

She looked at it curiously, confusion covering the doe eyes. He could literally see the vodka hitting her system. The hoarse voice was barely intelligible, "Santa?"

He wasn't listening, he knew who their demon was. A creature from the infernal court, a messenger of sorts, who changed faces to lure the victims back. He drug her out of the alley, letting go once he spotted Matt. He grabbed the blond boy he had to go after the demon. "You protect her? Do you understand? Don't let anyone touch her!"

But the Sheriff already had a hand on Bonnie, "You're to come with me. Disturbing the peace."

Damon was already halfway to the alley and only gave it a glance back. Matt could handle the human and if he couldn't...well maybe jail was a safe place for her.

…...

She let Meredith lead her numbly to the bathroom, cursing the fact they were in a diner. Why weren't they at home? Meredith pushed open the door to the ladies room and they came face to face with a bloody mouthed Damon, waitress clutched in his arms. Realizing who it was he turned back to his charge and returned to business.

They moved around him, going to the mirrors with a cursory check of the stalls. Meredith's voice was cool. "We need to see the rest of you." The grey eyes glanced past her, "We can wait until he's...finished."

Bonnie didn't care, she pulled off her shirt, letting it drop to the floor. She was too impatient. But she found herself wrapping her arms around herself automatically when they could hear Damon's cool voice. "Take a five minute nap, then you'll feel refreshed and return to work."

He lead the stumbling waitress to a chair and placed her in it, turning back to them. "What's up?"

Meredith didn't smile. "There is a bite on Bonnie. We, and I mean Bonnie and I solely, are looking for more."

Bonnie took a deep breath and forcibly removed her arms, she could feel his angry protest brewing. "Its ok, Meredith. He's seen me in a bikini, this is no different, right?"

The dark voice was cool behind her, amusement coloring the tones. "I've seen you in less than that, redbird. Why just yesterday your bra was.."

"Hiding in my bedroom doesn't count." She cut him off, blushing furiously. Whatever had happened between them was their business alone.

Meredith didn't even seem amused. "We all remember the bathtub." The grey snapped to brown then black, "Let's just get this over with, shall we? Check her back, Damon."

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut as they looked her over, her back felt like it was on fire. Damon's outraged voice burst her eyes open, "She's been marked! How dare they?"

"What?" Her own scared voice and Meredith's rattled one.

His voice was shaking with barely controlled rage. "Her aura... It has a stamp of the Infernal Court on it marking her their property."

"What does it mean?" Bonnie asked, Meredith was strangely silent.

Damon spun her, "It means they own you in the supernatural world. It means nobody can touch you, without being flayed to death." He was gripping her shoulders painfully tight. "It means if you're not there by your birthday, anyone who finds you is compelled to take you there."

"You're hurting me." She managed over the lump in her throat, her eyes were locked on his. He loosened his grip a tiny bit. They stared at each other for a few moments, his breath hitched in anger and hers coming quick in fear. Only the slight swoosh of the bathroom door opening and closing let the gaze unlock.

"Meredith?" Bonnie asked, but she was gone. She looked back at Damon, hating the questions. "Does this mean I can't give blood to you and Stefan?"

A small flare of the nostrils and he let go, "Yes...It means I no longer own you."

She stared after him as he left the bathroom, she wasn't aware he did in the first place. She knew, in some odd way that he had marked her as his during the Dark Reunion, but not that he had kept the mark strong and visible. Mechanically she pulled her shirt on and returned to the table. Her voice was soft, "We need to check Matt, too."

Meredith was at the counter, changing their food to takeout. Damon and Stefan were both running practiced eyes over Matt's aura. Damon exploding in fury. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

The black eyes snapped to Stefan, ignoring the jumping humans. "It can't be."

Stefan's voice was grave. "It is."

Damon snarled at their table before leaving the diner, glasses behind the counter exploding as he went. Meredith reappeared after the ducking had ceased, "What is he so upset about?"

Stefan was still staring at Matt, his face unhappy. "Matt is marked as well. It seems he's been appointed Bonnie's keeper."

Bonnie started glancing at Matt, who was shyly glancing back at her. He didn't seem perturbed by this turn of events, only proud. The light above them exploded and Bonnie ducked, finding Matt had thrown his arms over her. She sent the thought to the bitter, impatient individual responsible. _Stop it. We're coming._

…...

In the car Damon was fully engaged in his own snit fit, barking at Stefan from the front seat. In the back seat Bonnie was feeling vaguely nauseous, the smell of the food was not sitting well with her upset stomach or pounding head. She glanced at Meredith, but the dark haired girl was staring out the window lost in her own thoughts. She had her own concerns to worry about, a brother to find.

Bonnie glanced to her other side and let her head drop to the welcoming shoulder, letting Matt wrap an arm around her. There was a snarl from the front seat, but she felt too sick to mediate the two of them right now. Matt seemed chipper enough, "We never found out why you got arrested Damon. Any recollections?"

"You dare to even speak to me?" It was guttural.

Stefan's green eyes were amused in the rearview mirror as he passed a folder back, he seemed to be enjoying the turn of events. "Here's his record."

Matt grabbed it, holding it away from the white hand snaking out to get it. Bonnie let out a little groan at all the jostling, truly feeling like she was going to be sick. Meredith passed her a bag and she let her head sink into Matt's lap, clutching the bag weakly. Matt gave her a soft smile before his face disappeared behind the manila folder. He read the notes out loud, "Aggravated assault. No surprise there. Property damage – again not surprising."

He read the next part and laughed, really laughed, "Theft – under $500 dollars." Then his laughter increased even more, tears streaming from his blue eyes in pure mirth.

Impatient, Meredith grabbed the folder from him, reading the contents. Her voice was disgusted. "You got arrested for stealing liquor?"

Damon had ripped it from her hands, reading it quickly. His voice was even more appalled, "Cheap liquor at that. I don't believe this!"

"And limes." Matt choked out, his laughter fading to giggles. "Don't forget the limes."

"I got those for-" Damon cut himself off, turning around in his seat. "I used those to distract the police."

"Can we open the window?" Bonnie asked, she needed the fresh air. But the car was stopping and Matt was opening the door.

He helped her out and she took a deep breath of the outside air, feeling instantly better now that she was out of the moving car. Better until she saw the car parked in front of the house, the all too familiar car. She looked helplessly to Meredith, "My daddy is here."

Meredith had simply moved to the front seat of the car, her voice calm. "It'll be fine, Bonnie. Just go talk to him."

She wanted desperately to ask Meredith to stay, but the grey eyes were firm. Meredith was desperate to follow up on her tip. Bonnie choked out what Meredith needed to hear to be able to leave, "Go on. I'll be...fine."

Meredith nodded and Stefan began backing the car away, Bonnie bumped up her courage. "Good luck."

Meredith waved and they were gone. Bonnie turned back to the boys and began trudging towards the house, wondering how he'd gotten in. Matt held the door open for her and she went in, moving towards the kitchen where she could hear two familiar voices.

Her father and Sage were sitting at the table, drinking tea like two old friends.

…...


	2. I love Texas?

A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews, they were definitely a niggling reminder not to just leave this sitting! I will start answering questions asked, I promise :) I do apologize for the delay, I went out of the country and things have been crazy since I got back. Anyway, onto part two of their journey.

Part 2: I love Texas?

She stared at Sage first, unsure of what censure would be in her father's eyes. Sage's gaze was warm, though his voice held a soft pain. "Bonnie, _mon__ chaton._I am so very sorry about your night..."

Self consciously she reached up and touched her bruised jaw. "It's not your fault, Sage...Though we do have things to talk about..."

He nodded and she turned to where her father was greeting Matt warmly, "Matt. You look like hell, but thanks for taking care of Bonnie."

"Anytime, Mr. McCullough." Matt's handshake was warm, somewhere along the line he'd started to view Bonnie's dad as a father figure. Maybe it was the thanksgivings the Honeycutts had come to, maybe it was the football they had watched. Bonnie didn't know.

Her father turned to Damon and looked him up and down, "Damon."

"Colin." Unease was just visible in his black eyes, Bonnie's father seemed to have the same effect Meredith did. He set Damon on edge, which Bonnie had always enjoyed.

"Care to explain the bruises on my daughter?" Her father crossed his arms over his chest and held Damon's black gaze.

"Daddy!" Bonnie cut in, her hoarse voice squeaking. "He certainly didn't do it!"

Her father ignored her, "This is your idea of protecting my little girl?"

Damon's tongue flicked out and licked a dry upper lip, then he seemed to regain his composure. His back straightened and his mouth became more haughty, his words a drawl. "She's alive, isn't she?"

Her father turned away, heading into the kitchen. His mutter was loud enough for them to hear, "Damn vampires."

"Vampires?" Bonnie echoed suddenly feeling light headed. Her father had just said vampires, her clueless father was not so clueless after all.

She felt male hands push her into a chair and she rested her head on the table, she could hear her father telling Sage it wasn't directed at him. Eventually something was set down in front of her and she was pulled gently back up. When had Damon made any sort of promise to protect her? Thanksgiving? Her father motioned to the tea and she reached for it. "So you know about vampires?"

Her father's smile was wry, "Did you really think you were the first McCullough to find yourself tangling with creatures of the night?"

She opened her mouth and he waved it shut, "Another time, little one. What happened last night?"

"You left me in jail! That's what happened." It was petulant and she knew it, but it also seemed safer than telling her dad she got hammered and made a fool out of herself.

"Well, it was the safest place for you. Besides, I told all of you girls if you ever find yourself in jail I'd bail you out...the next day." Her father took a calm sip of his tea, though his eyes betrayed his guilty conscious.

"Bonnie had a run in with a demon from the Infernal Court. Know anything about that, Sage?" Damon's voice was cool, cutting across the family drama.

"A messenger for my father, _mon __petit_." He turned apologetically from Damon to Bonnie, "I had nothing to do with it, though I did choose Mr. Honeycutt to chaperone you on your journey."

"What journey?" Matt asked, nervousness overtaking the blue eyes as he turned to Bonnie as well.

Damon's eyes were glaring down Sage, "Why Mutt?"

Sage inclined his head at her, ignoring Damon for the moment. "Do you want to tell them or shall I?"

She badly wanted Sage to tell them, but she was working on growing up. Instead she steeled her shoulders and focused on Matt. "I have to do a favor for Sage's father, in exchange for the souls we've cheated him and will cheat him. Sage assures me it is nothing dangerous."

"Why you?" Matt's face was pale, paler still as his next thought occurred to him. "Does this mean I have to go to hell?"

Sage laughed, "Ah you humans and your constructs, linking any dimension other than your own to religion. My father requires a very strong, young telepath and Bonnie is the strongest maiden I know. I truly would not ask this of her if there was any other way."

Bonnie's father gave her a reassuring smile from across the table. "Don't worry, Bonnie. Hades isn't unfair, he won't go back on his word as long as you keep yours."

Matt was trying to hide his small trembling with bravado. "So when do we go and how do we get there?"

Sage intertwined long fingers. "Sooner would be best."

"Might as well get it over with." Bonnie tried for cheery, it came out hoarse and morose.

"The closest gate for the that dimension is Texas, yes?" Damon offered.

Sage gave him a merry nod, "Will you be coming, darling? My father is quite curious about you and your death."

Damon's anger hadn't dissipated. "Davy Crocket said, 'You can all go to hell, I'm going to Texas.' One in the same."

"You don't have to go, you're not in charge of chaperoning Bonnie." Matt offered.

_I'm__ going __to __throw __him__ in __the __Styx._Damon's telepathic thought made Bonnie crack her first real smile of the day.

…...

"Cheer up, little one. At least you'll get to see your Gran while you're there!" Her father's optimism was appalling.

"How are you so...so calm? Happy about this?" It was almost an explosion as she stared across the table, meeting wrinkled brown eyes that were the mirror of hers. She was glad when Matt had left to get some sleep and Damon to berate Sage.

He shrugged and took a sip of his tea. "Its your destiny, Bonnie. Not much to be done about it other than accept it and Sage has assured me no harm is intended for you."

"And what was your destiny?" This time she was bitter, "Hiding witch heritage from your children?"

"No having four red headed daughters, none of which I could afford." There was laughter in his eyes, nestled under his own regular brown hair. He must have joked it a thousand times in their youth.

"Seriously? That's it?" She stared him down, "Having four kids while I get to go to hell and do a favor for Hades himself?"

"Bonnie..." He started and set his mug down. He looked into it, his eyes going far away and into a past he'd long ago left. "I may have saved the world a time or two, little one. We all have our burdens."

Brown eyes met brown eyes and her voice was softer, less angry and more curious. "And what are yours, Daddy?"

"I can never go home again." She'd known that, but had always thought it had to do with his passport. He continued on, "Never cast another rune or dance at another solstice. I had to give up what power I had ages ago, little one...I would have helped you if I could."

Tears were quivering on her lashes, a thousand emotions swirling in her. She'd always thought her parents hadn't cared as much as Meredith's or Matt's, not asking when she'd gone off on days on end. Never questioning the dirty clothes or scorch marks on her bedroom floor and sweeping the nightmares under the rug. She didn't know how to say any of these things to her father, how to bridge a gap only he had known existed. She wasn't expecting what came out of her mouth, "Destiny sure is a bitch, huh?"

He laughed. "Not as much of one as that vampire of yours..."

"He's not mine, Dad." She shifted, she didn't want to talk about this with her daddy.

"No? Still Elena's?" Another sip of tea.

She shook her head, musing. She and Damon were still at the impasse they'd created on spring break. "His own. I've been dating Matt though."

Her father looked thoughtful. "I do like Matt, he's a good kid. No, a good man. One literally willing to go hell and back for you."

"Well, he doesn't have a choice in that now does he? I didn't want him dragged into this! Sage promised it would just be me..." She frowned.

"Damon's going too, Bonnie and he's not bound to. In fact he is a missed soul...Hades doesn't like those. Remember that, little one, before you keep giving him such a hard time." Her father finished his tea, watching realization dawn in her eyes. He stood, "I've got get to back to your mom, calm the tides. Call me before you leave and when you get back, ok?"

She nodded, giving him a distracted hug as she walked him to the door. He made it a few steps out the door before her voice called to him, "Daddy, does mom know? About...vampires and things like that?"

He turned back with a half smile. "With a psychic mother, I'd wager she does."

A whisper ran down Bonnie's arm, a hint of memory. She'd once told Elena about the dumb supper where her mother had seen her father. The whisper prompted another down her other arm, a memory not her own. A glimpse of passion, of fear and a gift so great it kept her parents bound together in love some thirty years later. She cast it away, not wanting to see, but she couldn't stop her words any more than her visions. "She's why you gave it up..."

Her father's mouth tightened and he was silent for a long moment. "I don't regret my choice, Bonnie. I couldn't live without your mother, but I could live without magic." He paused again, just staring at her over his shoulder. Then he turned away, his voice carrying back to her. "Ask Sage, he knows the story as well as I do."

Bonnie hugged herself as she watched him go, leaning against the doorframe as the green bug drove away. Her thoughts were swirling around her, thoughts of sacrifice, love and the consequences brimming in her. It left no generation unscathed, no hearts whole. She couldn't do that to either boy any more than she could do it to herself. She couldn't let Damon go then, no more than she could let her or Matt's feelings develop any more than they already were. This was her and Matt's journey, their summer, their beginning and their end. The thought was enough to make her cry, instead she pushed it away.

She sought out Sage, focusing on one particular word from their conversation earlier. Maiden. Bonnie approached Sage nervously, finding herself blushing when he encouraged her to speak. "Bonnie, what's on your mind?"

She licked dry lips, "I..um. You mentioned I've been chosen because I'm a maiden..."

"Yes..." One bronzed eyebrow quirked, a soft smile hovering at the edge of his mouth.

"Well, what if I wasn't? What if before I turned twenty one something happened?" She was as red as a tomato, fingers twitching nervously. How could the same girl who joked about sex with Meredith and Elena be so shy with the same subject with Sage.

Sage gave into his amusement and laughed, low and hearty. "So you'd trade your virginity to avoid a trip to hell?"

She got even redder, it had seemed logical enough a few minutes ago. "I'm sure a certain gentleman would oblige you in your mission.." Sage shook his head and chuckled a bit more before sobering. "The mark is already on you, _mon __chaton,_the journey must still be completed. But I would keep your maiden status, my pet."

"But you said..."She swallowed, feeling some of the redness recede as her stomach dropped. In disappointment or relief she wasn't sure, it wasn't like Matt had been badgering her about the subject. He'd been so much of a gentleman it had made her start to think he wasn't attracted to her at all.

Sage reached out and squeezed her shoulder, his voice urgent. "You must if you want to be able to walk out of the Infernal Court. We have no claim on the pure."

"I don't understand..." The reasons she was involved had seemed so clear cut to Bonnie. Psychic maiden with enough stolen souls as friends to make blackmail worth while.

Sage's voice was ironic. "The king of Hell has no power over those who are of pure soul and pure body, only those with darkness lurking in them."

Her heart dropped, she would have to take this journey alone. "What about Matt then? He can't go, neither can Damon..."

Sage had the grace to look out of sorts, "Ah...well it is a bit different for men."

His vague hand gesture was graceful and Bonnie cut him off, filling in the rest. "Of course. So women's suffrage never happened there..."

Sage laughed, a deep baritone chuckle. "No, _mon __chaton._The only woman with any power is my mother, though she's gone at this time of year."

"Persephone..." Bonnie swallowed, trying to hide her shock. If vampires were real why couldn't legends be true?

Sage inclined his head then motioned to the door and Bonnie turned, finding a stormy dark gaze waiting for her. She couldn't deal with Damon right now, she needed to sleep. So she pushed gently past him, "Later. We'll leave for Texas tomorrow, I don't have any shifts at the hospital until next week."

…...

Bonnie couldn't sleep, so she lay in the dark listening to Matt's snores from one bed over. Her heart raced oddly, beating unevenly in the darkness from the dreams that had awoken her. She didn't remember them, but she'd woken with one hand clutching a pen and the other a notepad. She'd been too afraid to read it just yet, instead choosing to lay in this indeterminate darkness with her heart hammering. She'd been possessed again, but this time the message was for no one but herself. In her trance she'd not woken Matt as she had Meredith countless times, not sought out either of the vampires nor even called anyone. Instead she'd scribbled something on the notepad she was holding, she could feel the rough indentations even in the dark.

Curiosity won out over fear and she crept from the bed, sneaking silently across the motel room to the bathroom. She flipped on the light, locked the door and sat on the closed lid of the toilet with shaking hands. It took another four breaths before she could bring herself to look down at the elegant scrawl that was not her own, scrawled again and again into the paper.

"Acheron, Styx, Cocytus, Phlenethon and Lethe a prison make."

Bonnie read the words again and again to herself, trying to puzzle it out. The names sounded familiar, the Styx and Lethe she knew: the rivers of hate and forgetfulness. Supposedly you crossed the Lethe at birth and the Styx at death. The others..they were in the sheafs of Matt's research. She stared at the paper for a long time, her mind struggling until tears of frustration burned her eyes. She could creep out and look up the others, but what did hate and forgetfulness have to do with anything?

One drop fell, then another tears splashing onto the paper clutched in her hands and suddenly she knew. It wasn't hate or forgetfulness that held the Underworld apart, it was the five rivers.

Rivers.

Running water.

"_Get __to __the __bridge! __It __can't __cross __running __water!__" _It seemed like another lifetime Elena had shouted those words at them, back before they knew about Stefan, back before Bonnie even understood her gift.

Her breaths shook as tears of relief soaked the paper, their own steady stream. She finally understood, just as she finally realized the elegant handwriting was so familiar, her grandmother long gone beyond the river Styx.

She needed a map of Texas. But first she needed to call .

…...

"You ok, Bonnie?" Matt asked, his tone worried as she picked at her dinner in the diner. She hadn't been herself all day, spending almost an hour pouring over the map of Texas he'd bought her at the first rest stop. Her tiny fingers had traced over it almost frantically, despite his assurances that Sage knew the way. They were getting closer to their destination: southern drawls changing into Texas twangs, Blue Bell instead of Blue Bunny in rest stops and boots, boots Matt found himself oddly jealous of.

She nodded, giving him the same distracted smile she had at breakfast. "Fine, just tired. I didn't get much sleep."

He winced, giving her an apologetic smile. He knew he snored, had been told it sounded like a freight train. He also knew she'd spent a good part of the night locked in the bathroom, but he was too much of gentleman to ever mention it. "Was it my snoring?"

She gave a giggle that almost sounded hysterical, then hiccuped. "No. Not at all."

Matt offered her a sympathetic smile, after all he hadn't been hand picked by Hades for a job. All he had to do was descend to hell, like the kings of old. "Nervous?"

Another tiny giggle, her brown eyes looking more mirthful than they had since they started this journey. He was glad the bruises were fading from her face for her sake and his, he'd been judged in every diner they'd stopped at on the way. Judged with sideways glances even when Sage and Damon had joined them, apparently of the three he looked like he hit women. He wasn't at fault for the bruises and he wouldn't encourage her unhappiness now. "Yeah. Nervous."

He narrowed his eyes at her, reaching his hand across the table for hers. She jerked hers back a little, before replacing it in his grasp with a muttered, "Sorry."

Matt found himself frowning at her, the longer Damon was around the more she pulled away. Had it really only been a few days since she'd chased him around the house, threatening to tickle him to death? It seemed like an entirely different summer. She looked up at him, brown eyes as contrite as her dinner was untouched. "Do you think we could get some wine or beer?...I think it will help me sleep."

How could he deny her with dark bags under her brown eyes? He rubbed small circles into her palm, "Of course, honey."

Her smile back was genuine and it made his heart flutter. "I'm really glad you're doing this with me, Matt. Truly."

He felt himself blushing, her faith blustering his bravado and pushing away all the petty fears he held. This was Bonnie and she needed him for this, for this terrible trip into Hell. He grinned as he paid the bill, grinned as they bought a bottle of champagne to share and grinned wider when they saw no sign of Sage or Damon back at the hotel. Her hand squeezed his as he fumbled with the key to unlock the door, sudden nervousness gripping him. What did tonight hold for them?

"Matt," She said after her first glass of champagne, a soft blush in her cheeks. "Did you know I had _such_ a crush on you in high school?"

He grinned at her, trying to cover the fact that he did know. Bonnie wasn't exactly full of tact back then. Her big brown eyes had followed him down hallways and around corners. "I'd heard something of it, along with your other hundred crushes."

She laughed, like a sparrow let free. "No, really! I did! I even described you as poetry in motion when I was asking Elena if I could have you." She colored crimson, "Matt..."

He poured himself another glass, filling hers as well. "No, Bonnie. Don't worry about it. I know how you girls were in high school."

Bonnie reached out for him, her hand knocking over his glass. She gasped, wiping at the mess before grabbing the glass away and picking up the champagne bottle. She headed for the sink, "I'm so sorry, Matt! Let me rinse it and pour you a new glass."

"Bonnie, its fine!" He protested, eyeing the beer in the bag. He much preferred beer to champagne and was aching to try out the famous Texas Shiner. Sage had been raving about it and Matt knew it landed in the foreign isle of the grocery store in Virginia. That had to mean something.

She came back with an apologetic smile, handing him his glass of champagne, before settling hesitantly in his lap. He gave her a warm smile, taking a sip before giving her a small pinch. "Why so hesitant? Him being around doesn't change anything."

She smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes, before Matt could wonder at it she spoke. "Doesn't it? Doesn't all of this?...I didn't mean to drag you into this, Matt."

He pulled her closer, trying to assuage the fears he could see in those brown depths. A small kiss that relieved him to find her responsive. It took longer than he wanted to be able to pull away. "No, Bonnie. You didn't drag me into anything, heck, if anyone drug me into all of this it was Elena. Years ago. I knew what you were when I asked you out." He paused to lick his lips, courage failing for a moment as he took a sip of his champagne. It had to be said, well he had to hear it said and see what this meant to her. "As your boyfriend, it's my job to be here."

She looked away, taking her own sip of champagne, even as she seemed to stretch farther from his lap. Matt found himself following suit, heart dropping. "Was that too much?"

Troubled brown flicked to his then away, her voice hesitant and pained. "Yes." She licked her lips, her fingers playing with her skirt. "I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

When will you be, he wanted to ask, but managed to hold his tongue. She had seemed committed enough the other night on the dance floor, heck all of Dalcrest assumed they were serious after the damn article in the paper. But he reminded him their situation was a complicated one; Bonnie's ongoing infatuation with Damon and his own inability to let Elena go at the beginning had certainly slowed things down. He knew part of Bonnie still thought he'd just transferred his affections for Elena to her, and he wished he could assuage that fear. He'd been in awe of Elena from the beginning, but Bonnie's place in his heart had taken time and courage, a slow growth he hadn't been able to help. She was still talking, looking away from him though her hands clutched at his. "I can't walk through the gates of hell in a relationship with you, Matt. It's too dangerous.."

What are you keeping from me? He wanted to ask, but didn't. Probably something along the lines he was keeping from her. They were hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. He'd brought the only thing he could think of on this journey and knew Bonnie held her own secrets close. Secrets kept with yourself couldn't be told by others. He wanted so badly to get her out of this, but it wasn't his place. He was just human, a boy who loved the girl in his arms fiercely and that had to be enough. He held her closer, absently sipping his champagne, wanting to close the sudden distance he felt between them. Like a giant sink hole had happened right between where they were standing, a giant sink hole named Damon. He tried for neutral, but it still came out hopeful. "We'll talk when we get back, how about that?"

She nodded, giving him a wan smile as she rose. "Can we sit on the bed, this isn't comfortable."

He rose after her, finishing his glass before grabbing a beer and following her. He felt so tired, his legs like lead. Still he followed, sitting and sipping the beer between her gentle, almost desperate, kisses. He knew he didn't have Bonnie's whole heart, but he had a part. A part that had grown day by day this summer, a part that hopefully this trip would cement. That could be enough for now.

…...

Bonnie pulled the covers around Matt's snoring form, feeling guilty. She arranged them again, more to her liking. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. Since when did she use underhand tactics like Damon had on her years ago? Since when did she drug her friends?

Since her life spiraled desperately out of control. That's when.

It was no comfort to whisper an apology. She tried to firm up her resolve and ease her guilt, she was doing this to protect Matt. Doing this to protect Damon. For Elena's soul and Meredith's, for Stefan and Alaric. She would walk alone to the gates of hell if she had to, pick her way across the scorching desert they called home here. But first...first she would keep Damon from following her.

She kissed Matt's forehead gently before grabbing the small, sharp knife she needed. Easing out of the hotel room a kiss of regret touched her, what a life she and Matt might have had. There was no use dwelling on it now, her destiny as far she could see was set. First she would leave Damon behind, then Matt.

Sage materialized silently from the side of the building, his face pensive. "Are you sure about this, Bonnie?"

She swallowed, "Yes. I have to, Sage."

He nodded, motioning towards the forest. Sage had been an angel all day, helping her gather what she needed without so much as a protest. "He went hunting that way."

She tried to give him a brave smile, knowing it faltered. "Thank you, Sage. Nobody else would have kept my confidence so fully."

He understood what went unsaid, nobody would trust her as fully. Bonnie wasn't the plan maker in their group, that title was Elena's and Meredith's, so to do it on her own without input from either one was terrifying. He nodded and she moved towards the dark woods, his troubled voice calling her back. Bonnie glanced over her shoulder at the bare chested vampire, "He won't forgive you, _mon__ chaton._"

"I know." Her voice broke, but she pushed past it. "But I'd rather him hate me than be dead."

Then she turned away, her steps seeking the forest. Once she was sure she'd gone far enough into the dark forest she stopped. Her voice and mental call were both hesitant, he certainly hadn't been happy with her lately. "Damon?"

She waited, the wind brushing the tree tops, no answer came. This forest unnerved her, the darkness here oddly complete without the flickering of fireflies or the rush of passing car lights. Doubt assailed her in the darkness, could she do this? Could she truly deceive Damon as she had Matt tonight?

Her answer came in a strong hand clutching the knife, her resolve strengthening. Her grandmother had once told her the druids only had only one word for both love and sacrifice, the two concepts bound so closely there was no separation. Damon had showed it for her once, though he'd been denying the act ever since. It was her turn to return the favor.

"Damon?" She called aloud and in her mind, sealing her request in blood. She ran the knife across the side of her neck, wincing at the sharp cut. She'd been careful not to cut the jugular, but it still stung as blood ran down her neck and soaked her blouse.

He came, melting out of the dark forest as if he belonged. Her mouth twitched, taking in his new attire. Earlier in the day she'd told him he stuck out like a sore thumb in his all black ensemble, complete with a jacket even in the summer heat. Now he wore only a black t shirt, his italian cut boots traded for black cowboy boots with black stitching, a belt buckle of a single silver D wrapped around his waist. "You look nice."

He kept walking, his eyes on her neck, though his voice had the same icy distance he'd maintained this whole trip. He'd barely spoken to her, keeping his attentions for annoying Matt. "You called?"

She licked suddenly dry lips, she could see his teeth in soft light. Unbidden the memory rose in her, he'd taken her blood by force once, drawing each ounce out painfully against his will. "I want." Her voice broke and she tried again, "I want to share blood with you."

One eyebrow lifted in response, conveying all of his questions. "I can't take your blood with the mark on you, you know that."

"You can't bite me." She corrected, she knew this, she'd even double checked with Sage. Sage who disapproved of this, but couldn't guarantee this particular vampire's safety. She held the knife to her neck again, deepening the cut in a swift stroke that left her gasping. He closed the distance between them instantly, pushing her hand down.

"Enough." She let him, cleaning the edge of the blade on her already soaked white top. She felt light headed, this had been a terrible idea; he was just going to let her bleed out in the forest. Cool hands steadied her, the soft voice a reprimand. "You don't know what you're doing, redbird." He exhaled softly into her hair, taking a deep breath of the scent uniquely her own. "What about your...human companion?"

Bonnie pressed her face into his chest, feeling another pang. Matt, oh Matt, he wouldn't understand. She whispered her guilt, "I mixed sleeping powder into his drink."

Damon's chuckle reverberated throughout her chest and she wondered if it was pride or disgust that darkened it. "He's too good for you."

She pulled back, trying her best to hide how the truth of the words shook her. Matt was too good for her, she was just another girl who used him. Just another girl who found no matter how much she loved him it wasn't enough. But romance wasn't her agenda tonight, she looked up into the black eyes glittering with stars and made her request. Her purpose was only half of her craving for this, it ran much deeper than that no matter how she tried deny it. "Drink from me."

He touched her lips chastely before obliging, he dipped to her neck, his mouth covering the gushing wound with a soft sigh. Bonnie wrapped her arms around him, fighting to stay herself even as the euphoria of giving swept her, only a tiny part held but it was enough. She slowly ran the hand holding the knife up his back, wrapping securely around his neck. Tentatively she checked the part of their minds that were blending, swirling together in a familiar dance. He was lost in it, his desire of blood trying to sweep her along, covering the emotions he hid so easily. She refused to be drawn into it today, instead focusing on her task at hand.

With a trembling hand she moved her hand upwards, the knife a few millimeters from his head so he wouldn't feel. The silky straight strands fell into her other hand, waiting to catch them. She was thankful Damon wore his hair longer in the old style, eschewing the summer buzz. With a content lick at her wound he pulled back, stars glittering in the black of his eyes. "Why, Miss McCullough if you had wanted a lock of my hair you only had to ask..."

She froze in his arms, locking up, finding herself mute. He rubbed her shoulders gently and she thawed, mind racing. "I..." Another lick of dry lips, she'd never been a good liar so she stuck to the truth. "You've carried Elena's and my hair as a token..."

He nodded, completely unashamed by the sentimental gesture. For all she knew he still carried the strands in his pocket. His voice was more tender than she deserved, "In my time it was common custom to give a lock of hair or a handkerchief to a suitor." An amused smile graced his face, "Back when jousting was popular the knight carried such a token of affection to tournaments or battle, _cara_."

She found herself nodding easily along, it fit far too well. Her words shook, but she could see he chalked it up to weakness. "I want such a reminder, after all I am on a quest. I..." Bonnie found herself landing on the truth again, speaking from the heart to avoid betraying her mind. "I need a part of you with me, Damon."

His smile was genuine as his fingers worked to pry the knife from her locked hand. "I'll be with you, redbird. You don't have to worry."

"Thank you." She whispered it, hoping her eyes didn't betray her as he cut a small wound in his chest. He wouldn't be with her on this journey, she would make sure of that. It would be her first priority after she indulged in the black cherry sweetness of his blood.

…...

Matt swerved the car off the highway, coming to a furious gravely stop. His chest was heaving in anger, hands clutching the steering wheel in annoyance. "Enough!"

The dark chuckle from the back seat had Matt going over the edge, he wrenched his door open and got out. He could hear the click on the passenger door, Bonnie's worried face appearing. "Matt?"

He felt instantly bad for waking her up, with mussed hair and huge circles under her eyes she still looked exhausted. Just as quickly his guilt fled, replaced by the anger he'd felt a few hours ago finding the bloody shirt she'd tried to hide. He ran a hand over his face, trying to calm down. It didn't work. "Just get him out of the SUV. Make him go fly with Sage."

"Why?" She dropped her voice in a pointless attempt to keep their conversation from Damon.

"He's bothering me." Matt ground it out between clenched teeth, it was all he would say on the topic. He certainly wasn't going to tell Bonnie that Damon was casually talking about all of their little moments, reminding Matt that she'd loved Damon for years now. Matt certainly didn't need to hear what Bonnie's blood tasted like.

Another click of a door and another black chuckle. Bonnie's eyes widened, flicking back to the car and Damon shook his head in response. Matt wondered if they were talking mind to mind or not. Damon's voice gave nothing away, instead sounding innocent. "I thought we were having a conversation."

Bonnie gave a soft sigh, glancing at Matt's beseeching eyes before turning back to Damon. "Will you go keep Sage company for a bit in the air?"

Damon leaned casually against the car, "Is that what you really want?" He flicked his head towards Matt, "To be alone with such an angry...dog."

"Better me than you." It was a snap, his anger flaring again. "I saw the bloody shirt. What the hell did you do to her?" Damon merely looked at Bonnie and when Matt followed his gaze his anger turned on her. "Why do you keep forgiving him?"

Shock and what might have been panic were in her wide brown eyes, her mouth opening and shutting. Damon's response was thoughtful, drawing Matt's attention away. "I wonder if a time will ever come where I'm not immediately accused of something nefarious."

"Nope." Matt answered immediately, he hated feeling this way. Angry and assailed by doubt. Bonnie had finally found her voice, "Matt, I cut myself, that's all. " She turned away from him, "Damon, please go fly with Sage."

Damon straightened off the car, anger flashing in his eyes as Matt found a touch of pride in her answer. "If that's what you choose for me, redbird."

"Don't!" She snapped back, taking both of them in. Something seemed to be cracking under the surface, the strain rising into her grayish face. "Don't make this into some sort of choice!"

"Somebody has to." The response was cool, "After last-"

Matt cut across him, "She's already made her choice. We're dating, but of course you can't respect that can you?"

Damon kept going, "night, don't I deserve that much?"

Bonnie rubbed her face and when she pulled her hands away tears of frustration were fluttering there. "Stop it! Both of you! I'm under enough strain without you both pushing this."

"But Bonnie-" Matt tried only to be cut off by angry brown eyes.

"Don't. Stop trying to make me feel bad, I'm not your girlfriend. And you!" She turned on Damon. "I don't want to hear another Mutt or another Redbird until we're out of hell and back here. You've never even taken me on a date!" She tried for a deep breath, it came out shaking, her whole form trembling with it. "I cannot handle this any more."

"As you wish." Damon said it with a flourish, catching her hand and holding it to his lips. Matt had leaned against the car for a touch of support, feeling like he'd been sucker-punched. What was Bonnie saying? Was she still, truly, stuck on Damon? Did she...did she think about him when they kissed?

Looking at the shadowed brown eyes regarding black ones, not pulling away her hand he realized she did. The black eyes flicked to his, triumph and amusement there. Damon had to be hearing his thoughts, the upturn of his lips in a smirk confirming it. Matt reached out, fist extended. "How dare you?"

He managed to take the vampire down, surprise and fury in his favor. His lead didn't last long and soon he was on his back, Damon's fingers wrapped around his throat. He gasped, finding he had no breath to gasp, instead flailing out with furious hands. Sage's furious voice stilled them both, "Stop it!"

Damon's grasp released and Matt looked up, finding a cloud of dust following Sage's quick footsteps away. He looked for Bonnie, but she was nowhere to be seen.

…...

Bonnie tried pushing the tears from her face as she moved slowly along the side of the highway. That wasn't Matt, not her Matt anyway. Her Matt wasn't some sort of jealous hothead who pulled over on the side of the road to throw punches. Her Matt was a gentleman, a guy who would willingly walk through hell for an ex girlfriend even as his heart was breaking.

"_Mon__ chaton,_ come back." Sage's voice was cajoling and she turned, reluctantly. His eyes widened and she knew what he was seeing. She had been almost grey in the bathroom mirror this morning, the only color on her face the vivid purple circles under her eyes. If only she could get some sleep she could beat whatever was dragging her down. Had Damon's blood last night replaced what she had lost?

Sage shook his shock off with grace, gesturing to the suv behind him. "Come back. They'll behave."

She shook her head and started walking again, oh she knew she would end up back in the suv whether by choice or force. But she wanted to delay it as long she could. "I can't handle it."

Sage fell into step with her, his voice thoughtful. "It's not Matt's fault...the mark on him is strong indeed."

"What's so strong about it?" She glanced sideways out of her lashes, noticing he'd made no excuse for Damon. "Isn't he just supposed to escort me to the infernal court?"

"Ah." Sage paused, searching for the words. "You and I have talked about how things are different there for women, yes?"

"You said the only woman with power is your mother." Bonnie agreed, though a tiny feeling of unease was beginning to curl in her stomach. She stopped walking, turning to Sage with almost a stagger. "What are you saying?"

He was looking back at the car, his contrite eyes flicking back to hers. "I will try and soften the marks as soon as we're back in the car, _mon __chaton_. I did not realize what my father had done.."

"What are you saying?" It was a snap. She could feel panic thrumming in her veins now, a hot ache from the blasted demon bite.

Sage looked as though he wanted to take a step back from her anger, but he didn't. "Be glad I chose Matt, Bonnie. In the Infernal Court there are no free women and very little free will for them."

Her legs gave out and Sage caught her, tiny moments coming back to her. When Matt had told her to eat in the diner and she'd found herself eating though she wasn't hungry, how she had carried his luggage. "Does he know?" She tried to pull away, "Did you tell him that he _owns _me?"

Sage held her steady, not disagreeing with her choice of words. "No, nor Damon though he can feel the mark. Let me see your bite..."

She pulled away successfully this time, she didn't want him to see the swollen infected bite, irrational as her stubbornness was. "No." She headed back for the car, exhaustion rising like a tide in her to cover her bitterness. "Just make Matt show you."

He followed her, his voice still full of apology. "_Mon__ chaton, _its why you cannot sleep. The messenger was out of line when he marked you..."

"You were out of line when you ordered him to!" It had no snap, not even tears to back it up as they rejoined the group. She was exhausted beyond caring at this point. She didn't look at either of them, afraid of the hurt she'd find in Matt's blue eyes and even more afraid of what she would find in black ones.

Cool fingers gripped her shoulders, causing her to look up into black eyes. His voice was dark, he'd clearly heard the conversation. "Show us the bite, redbird."

"Don't touch her." Matt's voice was controlled as he pried the fingers from her shoulders and Bonnie let him, still looking away. So this was why Matt's possessiveness was reaching a peak. "No."

"What bite?" The blond asked after a minute and Bonnie could feel him looking from Sage to Damon, his eyes slowly coming to rest on her.

Sage's voice was pained, "From the demon a few nights ago. I fear it is hurting her. Just let me see it, _mon __chaton.__"_

She shook her head, meeting his eyes. She had to know the extent of this _ownership_, he was going to have to make Matt ask her. It didn't take much, only a heartbeat later Matt was hesitantly touching her shoulder. She looked up, meeting the worried blue. He had no idea of the power he held, right now he was just a hurting, worried boy. "Will you show me? Just me...they don't have to look."

A question that wasn't truly a question with his desire behind it, now that she knew she could feel it's affects on her. Subtly she felt herself wanting to agree, wanting to please him and the harder she tried to deny it the harder it bound her. It was a soft exhale, "You can look."

Damon turned away and she turned to watch him as Matt gently unbuttoned her top. She kept her attention on Damon's back, completely self controlled even with the contained fury she could see shooting through his aura. Matt gasped as he pushed the fabric from her shoulder, "Bonnie..."

She glanced down at the swollen bite mark at the base of her neck, vivid red against the unnatural pale of the rest of her. Matt was turning to Sage, "Would antibiotics help?"

Sage was eyeing it with more than eyes, his aura brushing against her and Bonnie shivered from the power there. Damon had turned around, eyeing it as well. "Blood?"

She shook her head, meeting Sage's serene eyes. "It was worse after.."

"After what?" Matt asked, there was a pause as he glanced from her to Damon. His blue eyes darkened, "The bloody shirt. Of course."

Then without saying anything else he got into the back of the SUV and part of Bonnie ached to go after him. To explain everything, to salve the hurt there, to apologize for asking him to back off. But Sage was speaking, calmly. "It's a slow acting poison, designed to disable you the closer you are to the gate."

"Why?" She asked, turning her attention to a problem she could solve.

Sage's smile was dark, no amusement in the upturned lips, only a savage darkness. "It seems my father's messenger was getting greedy. I imagine he thought you would come alone, defenseless enough for a friend to overwhelm and drag to gate to claim the reward. He didn't mark Matt."

Bonnie trembled, not assured by Damon's feral smile, "I've always found killing the messenger sends the best message. Haven't you, Sage?"

"Take your revenge however you want, _mon __petit __tyrant._I can remove the bite, Bonnie, though it will best if you're sleeping. I can try and replace my father's mark with my own as well." Sage's voice was gentle, apologetic.

She was too tired to care, too emotionally exhausted from this day to fear nightmares. "Compel me then."

"I'll guard your dreams, redbird." There was a thread of tenderness running in Damon's promise, one he'd made so many nights in their little college house. Her watcher, her eternal protector from harm.

She shook her head, knowing this refusal would hurt him more than any of her earlier words. "Sage will. Go take your revenge."

She turned her brown eyes to Sage, the mental request desperate. _Don't __let __him__ in __my __mind, __don't __let __him __know __about __the __plan._

"As you wish." Sage said, the feral humor gone from his eyes as the crow flew away.

…...

Bonnie had requested a stay of execution in the small town of New Braunfels, though it was bigger than Fell's Church. She'd needed to see if the rivers truly did create a criss-cross of boundaries, trapping the town between a lake and two rivers. Her supposed desire to recover for a day from the poison had left the vampires impatient and Matt curious about the german heritage the town offered. She'd pretended to be as well, making excuses to strike out on her own before she lost the day. Today was the day, the gate was less than a day's drive away. The gate was not even an hour south of here, somewhere in San Antonio. She'd begged Sage to take Damon hunting in town and he'd obliged easy enough, though his eyes held censure of her plan. Bonnie and Matt had spent the morning tubing the river: drinking beer and facing the rapids it offered. Their companionship was still strained, though Matt had accepted her apology with grace.

Now it was finally time to do what she'd been dreading since she first read the paper in the middle of the night. She had wanted to apologize to Damon for her harsh words, for turning away his offer to guard her dreams but was afraid she wouldn't be able to get through it without spilling her plan. So she'd left it strained, held the silence he'd created between them.

Bonnie set her rucksack down quickly, she was in a hurry but it would do no good to jostle her tools. With shaky hands she drew the circle in salt around herself, hoping it would hold long enough to let her finish if Damon caught on to what she was doing. She set the four candles in the four directions, lighting them as she asked each direction and element for their protection. She pressed the air gently and it held, it would keep out all creatures of the night. That done she took a deep breath of relief and finally finished unpacking the rest of her rucksack. An earthenware bowl painted with the wildflowers that grew here in the spring, four bottles of carefully labeled water, a long piece of sinewy mesquite bark and last the strands of hair she'd stolen from Damon. All local except for Damon.

She smoothed out the paper she'd carefully written with Mrs. Flower's help over the phone, reading over her directions one more time. She set the bowl in the middle of the circle and went to the four corners one at a time, gathering some of the hard dirt they called ground here and carrying it back to the bowl.

"Ground of this land, hold thee to you." She dropped a single hair into the bowl, grinding it slowly into the dirt until it was hidden from site.

She took another shaky breath, feeling the soft rush of magic in the air. Slowly she opened the bottle of water from the north part of the river, and poured a bit into the bowl. "Water of the north river I ask your help."

A flicker, the water's presence flowing slowly into the circle as slow as the trickle at that part of the river. "Water of the east I ask your help."

A silent rush against her senses as the east joined. She repeated it for the south and west, feeling the rapids and the lazy river join her. Bonnie licked her lips nervously, she'd never worked with the elements before. Her discomfort burst forth, it seemed so rude not to greet them. "Hi, thank you for coming. I need to ask a favor, I need to keep someone safe."

They flickered like ghosts around her, interested, curious. Bonnie had worried about this part, had said some elements required an offering, this river seemed friendly enough. As lazy as the tubers who floated her, this river was content to give and not take. Bonnie gave her unseen guests a shaky smile, feeling foolish. "I'll just get on with it, shall I?"

She lit the pillar candle she'd set next to her bowl of mud and hair, staring into the flame as she spoke the words she'd written from her heart.

"River of water, river of fire

bind thee within your walls.

As the water runs quick and fast

or slow and steady, a trickle or a rush.

Keep thee bound against any form,

not foot or bird, not wolf or whisper.

Keep thee bound against any deception,

he cannot pass by tunnels or leaps

not by wheel or air, nor by compulsion.

Keep thee bound by day or night,

he cannot pass by moon or star,

by sunlight or cloud, by rain or dust."

Carefully she dripped some of the wax into the bowl, letting it touch the hair. Then with shaky hands she wound Damon's hair around the piece of mesquite. This was the hard part. Her voice shook, the pull of power coming out of her.

"Trees of this land hold him,

bind these hairs to your roots."

Holding her hands above the fire she snapped the mesquite in half, holding the first carefully into the flame. The ashes were drifting into the bowl, sprinkling with mites of unbreakable will.

"Nature, bind thee now within your walls.

Hold thee here until all is burned,

Hold thee until my feet grace the land again.

If by when the moon shines full above these hills,

I have not come seeking your grace, release thee."

She watched the first bit finish burning, watched the sparks the ash made as it hit the mud. She could feel the binding setting in, feel the order running from the bowl into the ground, spreading out from her in a lattice of power. The whisper of the rivers' voices were going with it, carrying her words to their waters, holding the order as it was said. The elements weren't fully sentient, but sentient enough to obey if not interpret the words with leeway. In turn they were both feared by the druids and used as tools, both now for Bonnie.

Bonnie sat back, feeling incredibly drained as she clutched her sacred second bit of wood and hair. She waited until she could no longer feel the power draining from her, could no longer hear nature carrying her words. Then with shaky hands she placed the remaining bark into a little leather satchel and hid it back within her bag.

"Bonnie?" Matt's voice called and she froze, she didn't have time to hide this. He came through the tiny strand of trees, thankfully alone. "Bonnie?"

"Matt. Shhh." She called back, waving at him to lower his voice. With wide blue eyes he obeyed and she set about breaking down her circle. A quick whispered thanks to the elements and she blew out the candles, stowing them in her bag. Then she dumped her bowl of mud, wiping it out with a rag as Matt watched in silence.

"What's going on?" He was squatting just outside the salt, careful not to smudge the lines. "What are you doing?"

She broke the circle in four places and stepped out, ignoring Matt's question for the time being, she wouldn't be able to if he really wanted to know. "Did you know the Comal river makes a complete circle here?"

"Does it matter? Don't stall, Bonnie." There was no give in those usually assenting blue eyes. This road trip to hell with Damon and Sage had sorely tried his patience and she could tell he was running on reserves.

Startled she glanced up into his face, did he realize why he'd slept so well the night before last? No, she realized with relief. Still she told him the truth, bound to as they headed for town, elated she done it. "It does matter, Matt. Do you know how the underworld is held apart in old myths?"

"By the five rivers?" He answered hesitantly, though he full well knew. He'd done all of the research for this trip, taking on the chance with a relish.

"Exactly!" She confirmed, trying her best to use a teacher's voice. "Though its not the rivers that do it, it's the running water. Things of great power can't-"

"-Cross running water." He interrupted, "I get it, Bonnie. But why does it matter?"

"Do all the souls there have great power?" She was enjoying this. Matt may have been minoring in history, but the occult was Bonnie's realm.

"I don't suppose they do." His answer was slower to come, brows knitting together.

"They don't." Bonnie confirmed, her voice becoming an elated sing song. "How are they held there then?"

"Who knows? By magic?" He was glowering now, jaw tight and blue eyes swimming.

"Exactly!" It was a crow of triumph, she said no more because she could spot Sage and Damon a few meters away on the deck of a bar looking out over the river, margaritas in front of them. She waved at them energetically, smiling as Sage gave a small wave back.

She managed to avoid Matt's questions and his gaze as they joined them. Sage had been able to lift some of the mark on Matt, though he still technically owned her. The air changed, thickening with tension. For not the first time, Bonnie regretted her harsh choice of words to them both. Damon's suave voice showed no signs of distress. "A drink?"

She shook her head, but Matt requested a beer. Bonnie gave Sage a confident smile, frowning when he turned away. She knew he didn't agree with her plan, but he'd never voiced any alternative. Damon wasn't safe in his home dimension and he knew that.

Just as Matt's drink came, Bonnie made her request. It was best to do this in private. "Damon, can I have a moment?"

He nodded, a tiny flare of anticipation lighting in the black depths of his eyes. She ignored Matt's frown, her glance at Sage a beseeching request. Sage's mental voice filled her mind, like incense at the back of her throat. _I'll __keep __him __as __long __as __I __can.__The __car __is __packed, __mon __chaton._A hesitation, his request running from the depths of his friendship with Damon. _Be__ gentle __with __him._

She nodded, squaring her shoulders as she followed Damon from the table.

…_..._


	3. I love Charon?

A/N: Just realized I never posted this, eeek! This will be 4-5 parts not 2-3, this part is a bit a well romantic, not sure how it will go over. We'll see. I am also posting the set up for this story (why are Bonnie and Damon on the outs?) as a new chapter in "I Love College" and have put a timeline of all of these stories in my fanfic profile, if anyone is curious.

Thank you as always for the reviews :) **Littlebrownbird:** Love the encouragement! **hopelessdream2005:**Thank you! I need to get caught up on all your stories!**Shadowvagr:** Not quite soon, but the next part is in editing. **Lula6791:**Glad I can get another Bamon shipper (I'm definitely one, just feel like Matt and Bonnie give it a chance before Damon comes to his senses) to see her with Matt too! I haven't actually decided how this one ends yet :/

Part 3: I love Charon?

Sage's mental presence withdrew, affording her the privacy she needed as they walked away from the bar, stopping at the edge of the river, a few steps onto the bridge. Bonnie found her breath hitching in fear, in anticipation, in regret. Cars zoomed by them and she found she still couldn't get a deep breath.

"Still nervous about heights?" Lazy and mocking though the hand that reached out to stroke her jawline was gentle.

She shook her head intently, still she was afraid to look down. His chuckle was dark, urging her higher up on the bridge. She took another few steps, pausing where she could feel the change in the air. He followed her and her voice shook, "Damon...I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He asked, just as he hit the barrier. He bounced backwards before trying again, a determined look on his face. His trunk held, though his hands reached out, grasping for her, "Redbird?"

She let his hands close around her upper arms, let him draw her closer even though his grip hurt. She tried to maintain her calm, clung to what she could. It wasn't enough, even now tears were fluttering on her eyelashes. "I'm sorry, Damon."

He tried again, bouncing backwards even ask he tightened his grasp on her. His voice rose in fury, "What did you do?"

"It's for your protection." She protested, knowing her voice was weak. Guilt was assailing her, wrapping her in regretful arms. How could she have felt any pride in this?

"What did you do?" Each word was punctuated by an emphatic shake, his fury overlapping her in waves.

The wild shaking stopped and her head swam, slowly clearing despite his fury battering against his aura. She gasped, finding words and strength when she thought she had none left. "I bound you." His grip tightened even more, his nails digging into her arms. Tears spilled from her eyelashes but she kept talking, terrified if she didn't say it now she never would. "To protect you. You cannot cross the rivers here, not until the moon is full." Silence met her and she filled it nervously, "The town is in the borders, you won't starve."

"Starve?" Another shake, she could no longer feel her hands, his grip was too painfully tight. "Protect me?" he repeated it, choked black laughter cutting the syllable short.

"How can I protect you?" A shake that stopped mid way, his control snapping back into place. "When you've locked me here? Thrown me away." He said no more, but the emotions wrapping the black voice had been enough, cutting her to the core.

She took advantage of his silence, steadfastly ignoring the gaping tourists staring at her tears and his violence. "Isn't it time you stopped being my savior? It's my turn to protect you, Damon."

He opened his mouth, probably to press what his last name meant. She spoke over him, "_Salvatore_ savior, I know, but not even Sage can guarantee you'll walk away from this. I won't let you die for me, Damon. Not again."

Her words had ended on a sob, a heart wrenching pain she had never really gotten over. Yes, he'd come back, but it could never erase the terrible week in between or the nightmares she still suffered. He responded with equal intensity, his black eyes burning with the fire of stars. "It was my choice and it should be my choice now." A shake. "Should." His nails dug into the back of her arms, drawing blood. "Undo it."

She couldn't look away from the black of his eyes, she was a prisoner to the panic she saw flailing there. "No."

Then Matt was there, blonde, strong and pure jogging up the bridge to them. His his voice rang out. "Bonnie? What's happening, why are you bleeding?"

He pushed through the tourists who were staring at them, whole groups had stopped walking to gape. Damon never looked away from her, his burning eyes at odds with his icy voice. "Go away, mutt. I'm not in a mood to play."

Matt ignored him, pressing closer until he was right beside them, blue eyes questioning. "Bonnie?"

Damon released one of her arms, still holding her eyes and in one swift motion picked Matt up and threw him off the bridge and into the river. A gasp went up from the crowd and part of Bonnie wanted to look over the edge at the splash, but the bigger part of her had already forgotten Matt. "Undo it."

She shook her head again, her heart beating unevenly as Matt surfaced in the water, curse words flying. She seemed struck mute, her courage failing faced with this terrible anger. She was afraid of him, afraid for all of the people here. Afraid of what she'd done. Half of his mouth quirked up in response, as if he could hear her thoughts. "You should be afraid of what I'll do, redbird."

Her mouth felt dry, but she tried to speak anyway, watching Sage make his way up the bridge. Her voice came out in a whisper, "You can't kill anyone, I've bound that into the spell as well."

"Have you now?" He paused and for the first time she realized how dark it had gotten, rainclouds gathering and thunder cracking. "I'd hate to have to slaughter an entire town to make a point."

She simply swallowed, wishing she had actually bound that in the spell. Instead she tried to focus on her hands, she could no longer feel them through his vice like grip. She fell back onto the knowledge driving her to do this to him, heedless of how her crying ruined the words. "I'd rather have you alive than this town, Damon. If you go you won't come back and I can't, Sage can't, take that risk."

"Sage knew?" His laugh was bitter as if another betrayal was nothing at this point, Sage was reaching them now.

Sage's voice was apologetic, "I'm sorry, _mon__petit__tyrant_, she was determined."

Damon released both her arms before turning to Sage, grabbing the bigger vampire and sending him over the edge as he had Matt. "I don't want your damn apology. I want my freedom."

Bonnie skittered backwards, out of reach of those restraining arms. She was crying in earnest now, hiccuping sobs driven by the pins and needles pain her arms were swimming with. He reached for her and when he found her out of reach let lightening take over the sky, the downpour furiously raining on her. She stared at him across the invisible barrier, his rage and her regret swimming between them. This was goodbye and it hurt like hell. She tried for light, "I could have left you in a dry county, where you'd have been trapped and sober."

"You could have not done it." A bitter snap, his fury not abating at his helplessness. There was no understanding or forgiveness in those hard black eyes.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around herself, managing a weak smile. "I couldn't have." Her voice broke, "I love you too much for that, Damon."

His face didn't soften and she turned away, crying harder as she stumbled up the bridge, fighting her way against the gale winds trying to push her back to him. The wind was howling, Italian curses whipping around her in airy syllables. At the other end of the bridge she turned back to look at him, he was standing still, impassively staring at her from the middle of the storm. The raging winds, pouring rain and clashing of lightening expressing all of his emotions for him. Hail pounded her as she made her way to the car, his helplessness a riot of icy bullets cutting her skin where they hit.

She made it to the car and crawled into the backseat, ignoring both Sage and Matt as she finally let herself breakdown. There would be no forgiveness for today, no more tender redbirds, only the icy anger he'd displayed when she'd told him how she felt. Lightening struck, causing Sage to swerve the car around it and she heard the thought in her head, _Hurry __back __if __you __want __there __to __be __a __town __left._

She'd brought the monster back and unleashed it on those poor people. To protect him she'd caged him, hurt him and that was like hurting herself. Her sobs were uncontrollable, as unrelenting as the weather that chased them all the way to San Antonio.

…...

She woke in an unfamiliar bed with only a vague recollection of Matt carrying her into the hotel, half asleep her tears soaking his shirt. Bonnie didn't feel rested, but the fact she had control over her emotions again was more than enough to make up for it. She'd certainly expected his anger, but had hoped that he would understand. She took her time in the shower and when she was done found Matt was up, still looking groggy.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Her voice came out normal, despite how ragged her insides felt.

He blinked at her and shrugged, "Don't be. You did the right thing."

She looked at the two ugly bruises of Damon's hands encircling her upper arms and was thankful Matt didn't try and tell her Damon would get over it. Thankful he didn't ask why the tears were so long and unrelenting, thankful he didn't rub salt in her wound. Instead he chose his next words carefully, "Are you going to try and bind me somewhere?"

She shook her head, she couldn't take another conversation like that. Couldn't face another potential goodbye and have her heart smashed into even smaller pieces. "No."

"Good." He got up, "I'm gonna shower."

"I'm going to take a little walk, ok?" Matt's blue eyes narrowed and she waved her hands, "I just need some time before we go to the gate. I need to call my dad."

"Ok." He headed for the bathroom and she headed out of hotel room, out of the hotel. She could feel the gate, a burning hole calling to her psychic senses. She wouldn't bind Matt, but it didn't mean she couldn't leave him behind. If she loved Damon enough to do something that would make him hate her she loved Matt too, enough not to risk his life either. Her footsteps took her towards it with hurried glances over her shoulder, closer and closer until she found herself standing in front of the Alamo.

She went into the complex, feeling suddenly nervous as her feet moved her closer to the burning in her mind. Closer and closer yet, she turned a corner and found herself face to face with Sage and Matt. Sage grinned at her, "_Mon __chat__on,_how nice of you to join us."

Matt hefted his rucksack and gave her a rueful, if nervous smile. "I'm not that easy to lose."

She smiled guiltily back at them, part of her relieved to find them there. "It was worth a shot."

Matt pulled her into a little hug, keeping his arm wrapped around her as they began walking. He chattered to cover up his nervousness, "Why's it here, Sage? I mean this is a tourist trap!"

Sage was perfectly calm, "Enough blood was spilled here to make a good gate, enough hopelessness and rage to attract the demons."

Matt frowned at that, "Then why doesn't Virginia have any gates? I mean the Civil War was certainly bloody enough."

Sage shrugged, "Too recent and the battles were just that, battles. Here it was a slaughter, the men fighting at the Alamo knew they were going to die and fought anyway. It was glorious."

Bonnie looked around, "Wait. So this is a monument for a battle Texas lost? All the 'remember the Alamo' chants for losing, seems kind of backwards."

Sage chortled but Matt was thinking about her words as they headed to one of the farther ends of the mission, "Well, no. Winning is great and all, but self sacrifice is more noble."

Bonnie eyed him, and gave him a small shove, her voice softening. "Don't get any ideas, ok? This is my show."

They were heading for a vampire who was standing casually by a door and Bonnie swallowed, suddenly remembering how women were treated. "Sage? Do I need bracelets or anything?"

Sage shook his head, "This is not the Dark Dimension, my pet, and you are a guest not a slave. Good day, Yuri."

The vampire gave a little bow in return, his gaze lingering on Bonnie's neck. "Passage for three? I thought you had a fourth, sir?"

Bonnie winced, feeling Damon's absence like the twist of a knife. Sage was also subdued, "He stayed behind in New Braunfels."

"Nasty weather they've been having up there." Yuri commented as he opened the door.

Bonnie's nervous giggle sounded high and choked to her own ears. He had no idea. Sage motioned for her to step into the closet, where stairs led downwards. She hesitated for a moment, making a silent promise and hoping he heard it. _I'll__ come __back __to __you __and __I'll __make __it __right._

She stepped across the threshold, clutching Matt's hand and let Sage begin to lead them down the stairs into the darkness. Only Matt froze, his feet refusing to cross into the dark hallway. His breaths were quick, his voice high and light. "Can I have a minute?"

Sage nodded and Bonnie squeezed his hand, secretly annoyed. If anyone was entitled to a panic attack it was her, but one look into Matt's face told her he was anything but proud about this. He grimaced at her, almost as if in pain. "I'm trying to move my feet forward."

"You can do it." She squeezed his hand again, "And if you can't I'm happy to go alone..."

One foot came forward, his grimace increasing. His breathing was slower, his voice no less miserable. "I have a bad feeling about this."

It was Bonnie's turn to grimace, though she tried to smile. A dream suddenly rushing back through her mind, she wouldn't come out of this trip the same. Matt was looking at her intently, "Do you?"

She skirted the question, no reason to tell him her death was a strong possibility indeed. Red hair splayed about her, no pain on her still face. Instead she pushed onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips against his in a chaste kiss. Pulling away she pulled him forward, forcing her voice to be light. "If you didn't...I'd be worried."

Sage's laughter was in agreement, "Come Matt, it's a rarity for your kind to be easy about going to this dimension. Even Hercules cried in fear as he descended."

Matt's other step landed and he took another, this one less hesitant. Terrified as he was, Matt was noble, fit to be a knight in another time. Bonnie held his hand tightly as they went into the darkness, wondering if she would still be able to hold his hand coming out. Sage breezed easily along in front of them, a low whistle coming from his mouth. He spoke softly, his voice was calm, "Count your steps, my pets. I may not leave with you and it would be a shame if you got lost in the darkness."

"Lost in the darkness?" Matt echoed, his voice slightly higher than normal, his face pale in the fading light. Bonnie understood what Sage meant she could see the complete blackness waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.

Sage didn't answer, simply led them into the blackness and Bonnie began to count her steps. They walked for a long time before turning right and walking 40 steps then turning left and walking longer. Time seemed irrelevant here, as if it was moving both incredibly quick and not at all around them, as if they simply were outside of it. The darkness was complete, thick and swirling around them, scenting the air like eternal night. Bonnie felt when they first crossed the threshold between dimensions, felt the sudden shift in her psychic senses. She could hear voices in her mind now, shrieks of eternal pain and calls of suffering. She clutched Matt's hand tighter, glad when he returned the pressure. She found herself counting not only her steps but Matt's shallow breaths in an attempt to keep from hearing what lurked in the blackness of her mind. They walked on in the eternal darkness and she felt herself getting sick, clamminess breaking out as the voices in her head pushed at her mind. Still they went on.

When she thought she could take no more, when the sweet buzz of unconsciousness was beckoning as a relief they came into a cavern. Bonnie staggered into Matt, her eyes adjusting to the low firelight. There was a river, black water rushing quickly across the cavern and on the river was a boat. Matt squeezed her hand again, his voice low. "Remember the rules, Bonnie. We can't eat or drink anything here."

Sage's agreement was no comfort, "You will do well to remember the legends." Then he was greeting some sort demon in rust colored robes, "Charon! How goes it?"

The demon shrugged, eyeing them both. "Busy enough, though it will get busier soon. These two don't look dead."

He'd said it so casually Bonnie's heart skipped a beat, Sage was laughing though. "Guests of my father, just here for a visit."

Charon grumbled at this, motioning for them to get on the boat. "I prefer permanent guests, not ferrying to both shores." Bitterness dripped in, "Not even a toll."

Matt spoke for the first time, "We have a toll, of course."

Charon turned to him, the eyeless eyes of his face lighting up. "What is it? A song? A story?"

Matt fished something out of his backpack and handed it over. "I hear you have a fondness for ."

Charon snatched the bottle away greedily and Sage shook his head. "You've been under the Southern US too long, my friend."

Charon was eyeing Matt again, "That's passage for one..."

Matt shrugged, "I have a tale as well about a girl named Elena Gilbert and how she refused to stay dead..."

Bonnie settled into her seat, pressing her face into Matt's chest in an attempt to keep the screams in her head away. She'd forgotten how terrible it was to be psychic in a different dimension and this time Damon wasn't here to help her shield. As soon as the boat began to move it got worse, the screams deafening out her own thoughts. She couldn't even focus on Matt's smooth voice, telling a story of their awful senior year. So when the familiar buzzing of faint came she leaned into the numb darkness gratefully.

…...

Matt frowned when Bonnie slumped into his lap, eyes shut in her pale face. He looked around, but Sage was chatting with the demon, taken up the conversation once Matt's story was done. Sage spared him a glance, something like pity on his face before turning back to Charon. "She can't block all of them out."

Charon agreed easily enough, "Infernal Court's not an easy place for a psychic, tis why the master goes through them so fast."

He pulled her limp form a bit closer in unease, a fresh wave of fear rising in him for her. He could handle vampires, could manage demons and could walk in hell if he had too, but he couldn't handle if she didn't survive this. For not the first he was glad he was a psychic dud, thankful he couldn't feel any of the unease she'd been showing. Eventually the rocking boat came to a stop and Matt gave her a little shake, nothing. He started to reach over the boat into the river when Sage grabbed his hand, "Don't."

He stilled, mortified, suddenly remembering this wasn't just water. This was the river of hate, filled in theory of all of hate in the world. Sage managed to rouse Bonnie and she stood with their help, pale as she disembarked the boat. Matt stepped off after her, wrapping a protective arm around her trembling form. Even now strains of sweat were breaking out on her forehead, she wouldn't last long here.

"Matt?" A familiar voice that Matt hadn't heard in years.

He turned, a lump in his throat and the familiar ache of grief in his heart. "Dad?"

His father smiled back at him, frozen at forty when the bullet had killed him. Matt couldn't move, could barely think, he'd known of course that his father might be here. Had even prayed to see him as they passed the Elysian fields, but had never actually thought he would get to. Bonnie's voice was weak, but determined. "Later, Matt. We have to see Hades first before we can visit with them."

Sage voiced his agreement, "A guest must first meet their host. Come, Matt, he'll be waiting."

So Matt made himself keep walking, his goodbye choked up. "I'll come as soon as I can."

Something darkened in the blue eyes that matched Matt's own, "Don't say that, son."

Then he was gone before Matt could form a response and they were walking across fields of sunlight, past lounging happy people. The heaven located in hell, the place where souls moved onto to live out their eternity in peace. Sage had been right when he said the Infernal Court wasn't simply hell, it was all of the afterlife. It matched the legends of old, where Hades wasn't a hateful lord, merely a passive one who ruled the dead in his care. Matt could pick out other familiar forms, Elena's parents, Babe Ruth and the list went on. Many of the souls stopped to watch their progression, calling out greetings and words of encouragement.

Bonnie was trembling in his arm and Matt looked anxiously into her white face, "Want me to carry you?"

She shook her head, lips pressed together as if to keep from screaming. He gave her a squeeze, hating that her eyes looked so wild, the whites showing. This was a fight for her, every step like a marathon, her little heartbeat fluttering madly in her chest. Matt turned his attention to Sage, "Can't you help her? Shield her from whatever it is?"

Sage shook his head, "That is my father's gift to give. He's testing her power and her strength, Matt and she will persevere."

She did and each step Matt ached for her, by the time they came to the throne room she was in a full sweat and shaking so bad he could hear her teeth chattering. Sage greeted his father with a hug and a laugh and Matt looked at Hades. His first thought was that Hades reminded him of Damon, black on black hair and eyes, olive skin. But the eyes were different, where Damon's usually were flashing in anger or cruelty Hades eyes were serene, a type of eternal patience staring out of them.

"Ah, Miss McCullough you grace my doors at last. Be welcome here." Hades words were warm, though his dark eyes were thoughtful. They were regarding Bonnie with intense scrutiny, judging her even as his hand swept towards a large plate of dates and figs.

"Thank you for having me." Bonnie's voice was weak, but she was polite. She swayed on her feet as Hades turned his attention to Matt.

"Mr. Honeycutt, be welcome. If there is anything you want, don't hesitate to ask." His voice was smooth and deep.

"Thank you." He paused for a moment then to his own horror found himself speaking again. He tried to stop himself, but the polite words had a demand running underneath them. "There is something I would like actually, if it's not too much trouble."

Hades inclined his head, a smile hovering around the edges of his mouth. Matt swallowed, shocked at his own boldness, but he was here to protect Bonnie. "Can you shield her? This place his hurting her..."

Hades' laugh was deep from his belly, a laugh like Sage's, who heartily joined in. "A champion's wish is my command."

Something abruptly changed for Bonnie and she slumped into Matt's arms in relief, he held her upright while she regained herself. Her voice came out hoarse, but stronger, "Thank you."

"Where is your friend, Damon? I was so looking forward to his acquaintance." Hades had turned inquisitive black eyes on Sage, a soft reprimand lurking there.

Sage motioned to Bonnie even as he helped her to a seat. "Bonnie did not think your realm was safe for a rare gem such as Damon. She chose to bind him within a cross of rivers."

Hades smiled at that, his respect visibly increasing for the little redhead. "I am truly disappointed, but you were probably right, my dear. A rare gem indeed, a vampire turned human turned vampire who defied death? I should have liked to add him to my collection."

Bonnie paled and Hades gave another half smile, the light words a rebuke. "You should be careful what you think, Ms. McCullough. I may take you up on that offer. I do not like defiance."

"What offer?" Matt asked, looking around. He hadn't liked the darkness that lurked in Hades last sentence, a gentle reminder of the blackness under the suave exterior.

Hades' black eyes met his and Matt looked away. "Your Bonnie would willingly offer herself to my collection than have a hair touched on his head. Funny what love does to self preservation, isn't it?"

Matt said nothing in return, deciding instead to hold his silence.

…...

Bonnie glanced at the opulent room Hades himself had led them too, Bonnie had chosen to have Matt share her room when asked, afraid of being alone here. Hades smile had unnerved her when he explained how rooms here worked. The simple thought of getting exactly what you imagined was too much, too untrustworthy like the fox key had once been. He'd left them with an enigmatic, "Have a good night."

It had taken Bonnie and Matt a few tries to get something they both liked, the first time they had each imagined different things resulting in a very odd room. They'd laughed each time it happened until Bonnie got to decide on the whole room and Matt the bathroom.

She touched the springy bed with it's lovely cherry wood frame then wandered back over to the wall staring out the window Matt had imagined there. She didn't really see the fields beyond, her mind elsewhere, but she didn't start when arms wrapped around her waist and Matt rested his chin on head.

His voice was soft, "You ok?"

She rested her hands on his, thinking over the question. "Yeah. A lot better now that I actually know what they need me to do."

"It doesn't seem too bad, does it?" Matt offered, giving her a little squeeze, she found herself breathing in the rose scented air, calming. She leaning back into him, loving the ease of support that existed so effortlessly between them. Matt was her rock and he made this whole thing only half as bad as it could have been.

"No, it truly doesn't. The only hard thing will be maintaining the channel." Sage's father needed to confer with the Celestial Court and since he was bound in his realm and they theirs a channel was needed. Bonnie would be their gateway, her mouth spilling their words as they renegotiated various contracts.

"You should get some rest." Matt replied, releasing her and taking a step back. She turned around and faced him, glancing up into his face. Suddenly, she didn't want to sleep she wanted comfort. It passed between them in a moment, then his blond head was lowered and his lips on hers.

She leaned into the kiss eagerly, tangling her hands into his hair. The passion of the kiss took her off guard, she'd kissed Matt plenty but it had never had this desperate tinge to it. She knew Matt felt it too, his grip a little tighter than normal, his lips more demanding. The desperate desire swept them both along, pressing the world into a haze of need, a tangling of emotion, a rush of roaming hands and intense kisses and Bonnie lost herself to it.

Sometime later, she would never be sure how much, lips were dusting featherlight kisses along her neck. There, the ache in her wanted him to bite right there, her eyes drifted open to ask for it and widened in shock. She came back to herself in a rush, smelling the rose scented air for the first time and wondering how they'd come to be on the bed. She pushed up on his chest, his bare chest, she realized in dismay. "Matt stop."

Scattered, darkened blue eyes looked down at her uncomprehendingly, though he obeyed. With mussed hair and swollen lips he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen and part of her started to slip away again, into the rush of desire still sweeping her. He licked his upper lip, voice husky, "Why?"

Why indeed, the reason that was so clear a minute ago was already drifting away. "I don't know."

He dropped his face down to hers a husky, "I want you," murmured against her lips. Spoken like that, his desire became a command to the mark on her soul, his ownership subverting her own desires.

She wanted him too, like she never had before, but still something niggled at her. Black eyes, another man she wanted. She pushed up on his chest again and he lifted off of her, "What?"

She pulled herself backwards, putting a few feet of space between them while she could still think. "Matt, we have to stop or I won't be able to leave here."

His breath was heaving slightly as he stared at her in confusion. She took her own deep breath, the rose scent filling her nostrils trying to flood away her thoughts. A spark, the connection catching. Her words were almost a curse, a desperate plea against what was raging in both of them. "It's the damn air! Matt, we can't. Hades has done something to the air, its strengthening this, pushing these desires. Would we do this at home?"

"I would." She wasn't sure if it was his hormones answering or the truth. Still his voice was shaky. "I love you Bonnie, you know that."

She rubbed her face with trembling hands, trying to keep herself from sinking back into him. This was deception, she had to keep reminding herself of it. The more she repeated it the less power it seemed to have over her. "He has no power over me as long as I'm pure...if I'm not..."

"He can keep you here." Matt blanched at that, leaning farther back in an attempt to fight off his own desires. He rolled onto his back and Bonnie glanced down at herself realizing for the first time she'd lost some clothing as well. With a blush she found herself staring at him again, wondering when he'd put on so much muscle. Wondering and awed at the combination of tan skin and sun kissed blond hair, at eyes so blue they shone. She found herself wanting to touch the abs and then she was touching, lips on his again and she was lost.

…...

Damon was still furious, his anger seemed to only grow with each passing minute rather than dissipate. The farther away Bonnie got, the closer to hell, the more the weather raged. Still, he was no fool. Fury wouldn't do him any good, but fury and a plan would. It had taken him only thirty minutes after leaving the bridge to find one of the occult stores, five minutes to realize the woman was a fraud and two bites marks to find out where a real witch lived.

He headed for the address, rain whipping around him and creative threats already running through his head. When he got to long drive the rage in him exploded out in a flurry of curses, a torrent of incantations and litany of threats.

The only real witch here lived across the river. Safe from his rage while her town would be at his mercy.


	4. I love tricks?

Author's note: **I ****need ****a ****beta, ****so ****please ****please ****PM ****me ****if ****you're ****at ****all ****interested****:)****:)**Otherwise I'm very afraid this story will spiral out of control, there are two versions written :( Plus I love college could use some fresh ideas of fun. Anyway on we go. Love the reviews as alwayssssss :)

I love Tricks?

In the end it wasn't Bonnie's self control that saved her virtue, it wasn't thoughts of Damon's dark eyes, it wasn't even Bonnie herself. It was Matt's honor that had him scrambling backwards off the bed, desperation backing him into the bathroom door. His chest heaved with short breaths and his body trembled as he ran nervous hands through his hair. His voice was shaky when he could speak, eyes still dilated with desire. "We can't."

"Why?" She was equally as desperate, trembling at the sudden distance between them. Matt was everything right now.

Another hand through his hair, "I want this. More than you know." A deep breath, "But not like this." Another shaky inhale, a calmer exhale with an almost normal smile. "I want it to be perfect for you..."

"I want this." She protested, the scent of rose filling her mind. This was Matt, this was right.

His hand was pulling open the bathroom door, still unsteady. Matt's voice was husky, deepened to a low baritone, "No, you don't. We'll have it, honey, but not in hell. I want you to have what you want. The romance with flowers and candles, a ring on your finger, a love not pushed by Gods..."

His laughter shook, unsteady and Bonnie clutched at the sheets. She wanted that, had always wanted that, but she wanted this. Could think of nothing but this. Matt took her silence as her agreement and pulled the bathroom door open the rest of the way. "I'm going to shower...try and think about something else." It was almost begging, "Anything else. The people who've passed on you want to see."

…...

Matt snored softly next to her, but Bonnie's eyes were still wide open. She hadn't been able to calm down enough to sleep and with the restrictions here she could take no sleeping tea. Her heart raced in fear of so many things. In terror she wouldn't be able to keep what was happening with her and Matt at bay, for surely the desires were still there, still tempted by rose scented air. Equally as afraid this channeling would take all she had; visions had certainly danced behind her eyes of just that possibility.

Frustrated, she rose creeping over to the closet the Infernal Court had provided. She dropped one of the dresses over her nightgown, deciding a small walk would clear her mind. Certainly she had been longing to see her grandmother. She crept from the room, freezing when Matt's snoring stopped and his arm groped in the bed for her, but he didn't wake and she slipped out in peace. Around corners and through hallways she made it outside, taking several steps into the dew before she realized she'd forgotten her shoes. A ghost of a chuckle swirled around her and she turned in expectation of black eyes.

A pang went through her heart at seeing no one there, memory of his binding rising. No Damon, no black eyes sparkling with delicate ballet flats or warm winter boots dangling in his hand. No Damon, who'd followed her into the yard after countless sleepless nights, no comfort waiting, no promise of protected dreams. Just nothing, just a pang of wishing.

The chuckle came again and she spun, nobody. Hurriedly she stepped forward, feeling a sudden rush of fear. Why had she thought a nighttime walk in the Infernal Court was ever a good idea? Another step, another chuckle. She gave only a glance over her shoulder, not stopping moving and slammed into a hard chest. She sprung back in terror, eyeing the familiar face framed by black hair and red tips. He was grinning at her, "Why if it isn't the little psychic?"

She tried not to flinch under his eyes, but as he looked her up and down a tiny shudder went through her. "Vulnerable as usual."

Bonnie took a step back involuntarily, he'd certainly hurt her every time he'd seen her before. Then she straightened in realization, "Not quite. You're dead. I'm not."

He shrugged, "For how long? Hades is in need of psychic, you know, and fair, though often absent, Persephone has golden red curls like yore..."

Bonnie managed a shrug, his poetry was crazy. "Sage has promised me I'm safe here."

Shinichi laughed at this, a sharp barking sound. He quoted something she couldn't recognize. "The more we want something, the sweeter lies sound." His eyes bored into hers. "The rebel son is still bound by the master's word, just like the rest of us."

Feeling a familiar presence coming towards her back, Bonnie rallied. "And what are you bound to, Shinichi? What is your punishment for ruining towns?" She glanced around. "I don't see Misao around..."

He hissed at her, invisible fur bristling. "Don't you dare speak to me about her!"

The presence joined her and Bonnie looked to the left, surprised at what she saw. This was not her grandmother as Bonnie knew her, this was a young woman with shining red hair and dancing green eyes, a woman in her prime. "Run on, little fox, and bother us no more. You cannot play games here, you know that."

Shinichi frowned, but he could no more contradict her than change his fate. Still his words were coated with bitterness as he turned, "If I could, you'd certainly suffer."

Then he was gone and her grandmother was smiling as she watched after him. She turned back to Bonnie, embracing her in a gentle hug. "He can't see his sister for a few millennia or play any games, which seems light to me. Though I hear Hades had a hard time unraveling what all was their ideas and what was orders."

"Why would it matter, it was all terrible!" Bonnie returned as the hug ended, thinking of all the terrible things Shinichi had wanted to do to her.

Her grandmother's smile was serene, no shine of impatience. "Men kill all the time for war, my darling, but does it make them monsters? Your grandfather fought in WW2, should he suffer for it?"

Bonnie started, but still this was different from that. The soldiers she knew took no pleasure in what they did, "But he's..." She trailed off, she was going to say evil, but it wasn't completely true was it?

Her grandmother gave her a knowing look and Bonnie struggled. Evil to her had once been Damon, absolute in his depravity, had once held the face of Klaus and then of the terrible kitsune, but it wasn't complete as she had once thought. She could tell no lies here and one of the things she'd learned was that evil wasn't black or white, wasn't easily defined. Evil was written in shades of gray and was a concept at best, terribly complicated at its worst. Her grandmother comprehended this in a moment, "We can't lie here, Bonnie, you know that. Evil is a construct, one of the many representatives of darkness on earth."

Bonnie had no comeback for her grandmother as they walked along, "How are you liking it here?"

"It's nice. I've become very fond of your Matt's father as we we've watched your trials."

Bonnie found herself blushing at Matt's name, unable to stop the reaction. She needed help with this, but how to actually ask? She certainly couldn't simply say, 'I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off the quarterback in my bed, oh and I'm terrified I'll be trapped here.' Her grandmother wasn't Elena and Meredith.. Instead she chose something else, it was lame. "I didn't know you met new people after you passed on."

Her grandmother laughed, a light tinkle of sound. "Why wouldn't we? We have until of the time you know, plenty of time for new friends and old. Now tell me why you're wandering the Underworld alone at night."

She blushed again, fiercely, but still skirted the issue. "I can't sleep." She frowned to herself. "It happens a lot at home too."

Her grandmother quirked one red eyebrow, making a face that reminded her of Meredith. "And Matt? How is he sleeping?"

Her blush deepened, all of her words true, all pointless. "Fine, snoring away. He's eager to see his dad tomorrow."

Her grandmother nodded, an sigh escaping. "Hades tricks are dangerous, Bonnie, remember that. He'll use you against yourself, your desires, your regrets becoming tools of his game. He always tries three times." Another sigh, her green eyes darkening and becoming pensive, "You'll be his, in one way or another."

Bonnie frowned herself, a touch of the gift she'd inherited from this same woman sweeping through her. "Which way remains to be seen."

Bonnie could feel her breaths coming in short pants, panic rising. Her grandmother put a stilling hand on her shoulder, no words of comfort, no lies coming from her mouth. Instead she squeezed gently, " Be on your guard, Bonnie, and watch for Matt too. Hades wants your gift and your... friend Sage can't save you here."

She swallowed heavily, fear boosting her mind. "Why can't Hades just use you as a channel?"

"What whispers of power I have left is limited to the reaches of the Infernal Court and there are no futures for me to see here. If you cross the river the way I did, in death, no part of you can cross back. You crossed the Styx in life, my dear, and as you can cross back your power can as well."

"And if I die here?" Bonnie managed to squeak out.

"I don't know." Her grandmother frowned, before speaking again. Her words were slower this time, as if she was looking far away. "I still see you young in your coffin."

Bonnie sighed. "Do they have coffins here?"

Her grandmother laughed, shaking her head and Bonnie found herself dissolving into laughter too. This was all too ridiculous to bear.

…...

Matt watched Bonnie slump forward into a limp mess, almost sliding off the couch she had been sitting on for the past six hours. He moved over to her, finding Hades was also there. Matt tried to reassure him about her chalky pallor. "She's ok, but she'll need some rest."

Hades stepped back and let Matt tend to her, "I've never seen a medium hold the channel open that long. She's very rare indeed."

Matt glanced up, not liking the speculative, almost possessive, tone in the king's voice. He tried to brush the unease it made him feel off, "Yeah well she's had some practice...I'm going to lay her down if that's all right?"

Hades waved a hand at him, a casual dismissal. "Have her ready to go an hour after dawn tomorrow."

Matt hefted her into his arms, "Yes, sir."

He left, his father falling into step with him as he navigated the hallways back to their room. "I was surprised he let you listen to the negotiations. It's not really for mortal ears..."

Matt glanced at his father and got another twinge, seeing him after so many years was painfully bittersweet. "I guess, but he couldn't have kept me out." He paused, "Besides, it will all be set before we're allowed to leave anyway."

Matt's dad opened the door ushering him in, Matt carried Bonnie to their bed. He took a few moments arranging her in a comfortable fashion and tucking her in, he lingered there deciding to sit. His dad took up the chair by the window, looking thoughtful. There was so much to say, so little time to say it. "So are you still thinking of going into coaching?"

Matt twirled one red curl around his finger, "Yeah...I thought about doing athletic training, but I don't have time to get the field hours. I'm minoring in history, so I could always teach that at whatever school."

"When did you give up the dream of being a cop? You used to love running around in my hat with your little badge pinned to your chest." A fond chuckle, a memory of good times long gone.

Matt managed a smile, though it wavered around the edges. "I don't think Mom would let me after..."

"-I got shot. It's ok, you can say it. I know I'm dead." It ended with a laugh, his dad was un-phased, upbeat even, an eternal optimist. "I suppose she wouldn't, she'd worry too much."

Matt shrugged, his mom was a worrier by nature and it had only intensified after his dad passed away. "A football coach is a safe enough career for her tastes."

"I'm glad she's dating John, he was always a stand up guy." Matt's dad commented casually.

Matt froze, the curl between his fingers laying still. "What? Since when is she dating? John who?"

His father gave him a sheepish grin, a smile Matt had inherited. "I assumed you knew...my old partner. He'll take good care of her, Matt."

He forced his hand begin to stroke Bonnie's hair again, his insides tight and roiling. He was so protective of his mom, loved his dad so much, but if his dad didn't mind he certainly couldn't object. "I..." He struggled for something to say, "Well he better or he'll have me to answer to."

His dad laughed, "You can always tell him you've threatened the king of Hell himself."

"I don't like the way he looks at her, like she's something to be owned." Matt scowled, it was as if every time they saw Hades he became more and more intrigued by Bonnie.

Matt's father frowned and said nothing for a long time, carefully picking his words. "People have been owned for as long there have been people, son. Be careful, the games he plays are always deadly in nature."

"What are you saying?" Matt kept stroking the same curl, nervousness building in him. Last night had been unsettling enough, his world still off kilter when he'd woken up. He hadn't been able to dispel the nervous energy running in him, the intoxicating joy at waking up to find her curled against him.

Matt's dad frowned and gave him an apologetic smile, "There are things I can't talk about, not here in his realm. Stay on your toes and keep an eye on your girl there..."

"I always do." Matt exhaled, worry becoming a knot in his stomach.

His father nodded, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, I've asked about your career, what about your love life? Need any um, talks?"

It broke the tension and Matt gave a fake groan, "I'm a little past that stage, but thanks. I'm finally getting serious with Bonnie, but..."

The silence grew, Matt unwilling to say it aloud in case it was true. His father prompted him, "But what?"

He gulped, glancing down to make sure she was still asleep. "But it feels like borrowed time, do you know what I mean? Like no matter how perfect it is, how much I care, how much she cares... it can't last. I know she feels it too, she's trying so hard not to get attached. Dad, I can't just give her my heart knowing she'll inevitably throw it away to be with Damon..."

There was thoughtfulness in his dead father's eyes, the 20/20 of hindsight in the answer. "It felt like that with your mom and I, but is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?"

"I don't know." Matt's voice was heavy as he stared at the fingers starting to twitch on the bed.

"That's something only you can answer, son."

"Matt..." Her voice was scratchy as brown eyes flicked open and blinked, "can you turn the movie off?"

"There's no movie, Bonnie." He kept his voice calm the way Meredith always did, "You were helping Hades, remember? You went into a trance."

She nodded slowly, sitting up and rubbing her throat. "I'm thirsty."

"We can't drink anything here, honey. I'm sorry." He rubbed her back in small, soothing circles.

She frowned at that, remembering. Then frowned again, lifting a hand to her head, "Uggh, I feel a migraine coming on."

"Try and get some rest then, I'll wake you up when it's time to get ready." She obediently laid back down and he dropped a kiss on her forehead, her eyes were already starting to shut again.

They eased out of the room, Matt flipping the lights as they went. He shoved his hands in his pockets, he wasn't tired by any means yet. "I wonder how Damon's doing? If there's still a town..."

His dad seemed intrigued as well, "We could look. C'mon, Matty, it's this way."

…...

Damon was not doing well at all. He was not only drunk and wearing a stolen cowboy hat, but he was surrounded by extremely sober vampire hunters. He'd originally thought they were just pool hustlers at the bar he'd fallen into, drinking with them and stealing their money. Now he surveyed the circle surrounding him, taking in the three males and one girl. Slowly he rolled his shoulders back, tipped his hat with a deliberate mock and smiled. "Well let's get to it."

He heard the click of the crossbow and caught the arrow a second later, looking at it before casually snapping it in half and tossing it to the ground. "I should warn _y'all_ I don't kill your kind...I Change you. So think carefully before you attack."

There was a long pause before the girl backed out of her fighting stance and with a muttered, "I can't" fled. The three men looked at each other and closed in on him. His answering smile was primal, drunk or not he was Damon Salvatore and they stood no chance.

…...

"We will not bend on this issue, Hades." Bonnie coughed on her couch, abruptly coming out of the trance. A little too well timed for an issue Hades no longer wanted to discuss. She coughed again, harder still, the cough racking her body.

"You ok?" Matt asked, half waking from where he was napping near by. He couldn't seem to fully wake up though, not even as her coughs went on and on.

She slipped from the couch to her knees, clutching at her throat. "Water."

Hades moved forward, handing her a cup even as the one word was rousing him. She was already holding it to her lips, still coughing when Matt felt himself jolted awake. He threw his voice in desperation. "Bonnie! NO!"

She hesitated, bound by the power he didn't know he held over her. He went on, trying to disentangle himself from his blanket. "Bonnie, do not drink that."

"I feel like I'm dying." It came out between sputtered coughs, but the water moved no closer to her lips.

He dropped to his knees next to her, pulling the water away, throwing it across the room. "You're not, you can't here. It's a trick. You can't drink or eat anything here, ok? Just stop coughing and you'll be fine."

She nodded, gave one last cough looking more relieved. One of Sage's brothers was there, calling himself Ares, his voice appreciative. "That's one way to keep your woman in line."

"Excuse me? My woman?" Matt challenged, rubbing her back in an attempt to make sure the coughs were gone.

There was laughter at this, as if he'd made some sort of joke. Eventually it died down, the vampire realizing he was serious. "The little minx didn't tell you, did she?"

"Tell me what?" Matt looked around, before looking at Bonnie.

Hades was smiling, infinitely amused. "In most dimensions women are owned, Mr. Honeycutt. Your words are her command."

"Bonnie?" He asked faintly, feeling shell shocked.

Her voice was scratchy and dry. "It's true."

Matt said nothing, simply sitting back on his heels. He had no words for this situation. Hades seemed even more amused, "Let's call it a day. Mr. Honeycutt your..." He paused, looking at them with narrowed, displeased eyes "...wife would probably like some rest and I need to speak with my son."

Matt thought he nodded, but wasn't sure, still all of the vampires and demons left the little room they had been using for the negotiations. Matt was still sitting on the floor next to Bonnie, sounding out the word. "Wife?"

He looked over at her, but she was staring at the ground. "Did you know?"

She nodded, letting her hair fall in front of her face to hide it. "I've been your property since the marks were put on us. Sage told me. He tried to lessen the mark, but it seems he only changed the nature of it." She paused, "I don't think Hades realized until just now."

Matt swallowed, "Do you think he knew we would be struggling with...the rose scent?"

She shrugged, but some of the tension seemed to ease in her shoulders. "Probably. I hadn't thought of it that way."

Another thought occurred to him, horror clenching his stomach. "Bonnie...have I? Have I been taking advantage of you? Ordering you around without knowing?"

She finally looked at him, reaching over to soothe him even as the truth was in her brown eyes. "No. You haven't, Matt!"

He nodded, the horror fading to a strange hollow feeling in his stomach. "If I do...tell me ok? Just tell me if you don't want to do something and you think I'm making you."

She stood, pulling him to his feet a moment later. "I will, but don't worry Matt. I would like to go outside, though. I feel like I've been trapped in this castle for days on end."

They fell into step, his thoughts still swirling. "Should I sleep somewhere else tonight? I don't...don't want to repeat what happened the other night..."

"Or the other morning." Bonnie half grimaced then gave him a sheepish smile, "Or yesterday afternoon. I'd prefer if you stayed in the bedroom, really."

He managed a sheepish smile in return, it was nice to know he wasn't the only one whose self control was wearing thin. "Your wish is my command."

She smacked his arm, "Not funny! But seriously Matt, if I'm going to lose my mind at the sight of abs I want it to be with you. I trust you."

Matt wasn't sure he trusted himself all that much, but it was still more than he trusted any of the vampires here. "Ok, ok, honey. We'll just keep alternating sleep schedules?"

"But I like sleeping next to you," It was a light complaint as her fingers wound into his, "You're warm!"

He squeezed her hand, her words bringing an odd fluttering of joy into him that crashed into something else. He was in trouble here, they were dangerously close to crossing a line they couldn't come back from and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Instead of saying all of this, he said the only thing he could. "He's tried to trick us twice now, only one more trial to go..."

Bonnie squeezed his hand, giving him an almost mischievous smile under her tired eyes. "Bring it on."

…...

"You're up early for a mortal." Hades said melting out of the pre dawn darkness to join Matt where he was leaning against a wall outside the court.

Matt shrugged, his earlier anger had drained to resigned bitterness. "I think you know why."

Hades chuckled, "I'm not controlling your dreams, Matt."

Matt opened his mouth, but Hades waved it shut. "Nor am I changing your desires. I cannot make you feel something you weren't already feeling."

Matt took this in silence, his mind trying to twist around this information. He'd been able to handle the past week so far running on the knowledge that it was all Hades' doing. After a moment he spoke again, desperation tinging the words. "But you can add fuel to the fire..."

"Certainly, just as I can make those desires a reality..." The king of the Infernal Court's voice was hypnotic, promises lurking in the dark depths. "I can make her truly yours, can help you banish him from her heart for forever."

Matt squeezed his eyes shut, clinging to his convictions. He would not ask, he would not let Bonnie be his apple. "I'm not that easy to fool. I won't let you keep her here forever."

"What if it's not her soul I'm asking for?" Alluring and alluding, Hades went on. "I'd gladly take Damon off your hands permanently."

Part of Matt wanted to jump at the idea, but the other part, the stronger part shook his head and opened his eyes. "That's not mine to give. I won't make any deals with you, sir, no matter your promises."

Hades only chuckled, "Won't you? When all you have left is desperation, where will you turn?"

Ice ran down his spine, but Matt remained resolute. He pushed off the wall, voice brusque. "I've got to wake Bonnie."

"Don't forget to kiss your wife good morning." Hades called after him.

Matt turned back, "She's not my wife and she's not my property, whatever you believe here."

"Ah, not in your religious sense no...but she could be. You've got at least a few months here, Mr. Honeycutt and if she promises unto you until death do you part...Well, Damon would be out of the way wouldn't he?"

Matt swallowed and turned away again, "She can't make any promises bound the way she is. Good day, Hades."

Yet as his feet moved farther and farther away his mind couldn't shake the words, couldn't shake the whispers of desire for that life crawling down his spine. Would Hades third and final try be their undoing? He couldn't shake the feeling of doom as he made it back to their room, whether it was more than an echo of the terrible carvings lining the walls of this court he didn't know.

He opened the door to find Bonnie not snuggled into a ball of covers, but sitting straight up in bed staring blankly ahead. He closed the door slowly and moved into the room, her eyes never moving to track his steps, all the same the empty voice spoke. "There will be a choice."

"What kind of choice?" He took effort to ask the room in general, not to focus the question at her. He still wasn't sure if doing so woke her from the trance.

"One that is not yours to make, but you will take all the same." Her glassy features never moved, yet managed to convey a type of sadness at him.

Matt frowned, his heart hammering at Hades earlier words, at an offer that was hard to refuse. "What will it be about?"

"A soul, though it remains unseen whose." Her gaze broke a breath after and she was pitching back into the pillows, fast asleep. Matt let her sleep for a few minutes longer, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed, the truth of the words winding their way through him slowly. He had no guesses of whether it was Bonnie's soul, Damon's or his own and came to only one conclusion:

If it was Bonnie's soul or anyone else's...he would save Bonnie's every time. Damon be damned. Himself be damned.

Somehow there was no comfort in knowing.

…...

Bonnie reclined on her tuffet of grass, idly watching Matt play football with his dad and various other members of the passed on. It seemed while she channeled and tranced her days away he'd started his training camp early, recruiting what professional football players he could to make himself a better quarterback. There was a surprising number of participants seeking a diversion. She had laughed when he'd told her, but now watching him dodge and throw she felt a spark of pride for him. He was definitely getting better or simply looking better now that he had good players to play off of.

She glanced at the water next to her, turning away from a touchdown dance. Reaching out suddenly hesitant fingers she touched the water, "Show me Damon Salvatore."

It rippled and changed into a picture, a gateway of water between this realm the one above it. Time ran different here and what had been a day for Damon had been almost a month for her and Matt.

Damon was leaving a jail, rubbing the back of his head and scowling. He went around the side of the building, pausing in the shade to reach into his pockets, pulling out items methodically as if making sure he had all of his belongings. He pulled out his cell phone, then his wallet, glancing in it he put it away. Finally, he pulled out a familiar handkerchief opening it gently to verify the strawberry blonde lock of curls was intact.

Bonnie's eyes pricked with tears, watching as he ran a practiced finger over it and scowled. He rewrapped the handkerchief almost angrily, shoving it back into his pocket roughly. She noted the blonde locks, which had accompanied the strawberry were long gone, moved to some other place.

_Damon_. She sent the thought, her longing for him in person so intense she hoped it would carry across dimensions.

He glanced around as if he'd heard something, then shook his head and began walking again. She tried again, _Damon? __It's__ Bonnie.._

He glanced around even walking back up to the corner he'd turned, then shook his head again and ducked into a bar. He went right over to the counter, throwing himself into the chair with a 500 kilowatt smile at the girl behind the bar.

She let out a long exhale of breath, a half relieved sigh. What would she have to say to him anyway? I'm scared and though Matt's here, he's even more scared something will go wrong so he's no help. Or I'm sorry that I'm falling in love with him and don't think I could be your princess of a bloody eternity?

"So you're the guy who got arrested for cow tipping?" The bartender was leaning over the bar, cleavage pushed up.

"I was merely sleeping in a cow field, _cara._It had been a rough night." His signature predatory smile, Italian accent strong.

"That doesn't explain how there was a cow in a tree..." She drawled right back.

"Care to explain why I have no goose and soda in my hand?" One black eyebrow lifted, shutting the subject down.

"Feisty, I like it." The bartender smiled as she turned away. "You and I will get along just fine."

"I'm over blondes." It was muttered under his breath and in Italian, but hers was good enough to think in now.

Bonnie was shocked back into the Infernal Court by a sweaty blond dropping onto the ground next to her, "How's Damon doing? He got into a fight with some vampire hunters..."

She glanced at Matt, shocked he'd checked on the vampire. He shrugged at her, grinning. "We're winning, 3 touchdowns!"

She couldn't stop the smile back, a familiar bet they had only started making on Thanksgiving. "He's fine, just at a bar. Though it sounds like he was in jail last night..."

Matt gave a half grimace, before reaching over and giving her a peck and popping off the ground. "He's losing his touch. Second half!"

"You better win!" She hollered after him, before glancing back at the water and turning away. Damon was clearly not over blondes from the flirtation going on in front of her face. She stood up leaving it behind, one redhead certainly couldn't be counted on to undo 500 years of damage in just a few years. Damon could take care of himself.

…...

Damon hated Texas. He hated the fake-ness of Dallas from the bottle blondes to the pretentious richness that reminded him of Renaissance Italy. He hated the forced weirdness of Austin, hated the alternative lifestyles that had merely becoming marketing tools for tourists. He hated the blandness of Houston and the hickness of the small towns they'd passed through. He even detested the friendliness that perpetuated society here, hated it even more than the summer tans these girls wore and flaunted.

Most of all he hated New Braunfels, his prison made of rivers full of drunken tubers. His prison made of the world's best water-park, his prison made of tourists, made of friendly locals, made of more compassion than he had ever wanted. Even more than he hated being laughed at, he hated being helpless, trapped in his own personal hell. He would even take Matt's complete and utter dunce status over these fools. As long as he could make sure Bonnie was safe...

He took another shot, trying to drown out the thought. And another, and another, until a familiar bronzed hand grasped the glass, holding it to the bar. "I think you've had enough, _mon __petit.__"_

"Why are you here? How's Bonnie?" It came out in a slurred rush, panic forcing the thoughts aloud and in Sage's head.

"She's doing as well as can be expected." Sage replied, slipping onto the stool next to him.

"What does that even mean?" Damon slurred, still trying to lift his shot glass.

"She's tired from the work, but Matt is taking good care of her." Sage's voice was holding something back that even hammered, Damon caught.

The black eyes narrowed, "Why aren't you there, taking care of her?"

"I've been banished again." Sage replied without his usual cheer at the prospect. Instead it was him pouring a shot and downing it.

"Why?"

"I interfered with my father's games. You know how he hates that." Sage said it without his usual sunny regard for banishment, a pattern that had gone on for longer than Damon had been alive.

"What game?" The helplessness Damon had been battling for days rose up in the words.

"You won't like it, _mon __petit __tyrant.__" _ Sage sighed, before giving into the demanding black eyes. "My father would very much like the Infernal Court to have it's own medium again and one of my brothers had taken a liking to her. His last wife was a redhead too."

Damon growled, punctuating the explanation, his hand beginning to clutch the bar. Sage took another shot before going on, "I changed the mark on Bonnie from property to wife, it'll save her against at least two of his tricks."

Nothing changed in Damon's outward appearance, though his fury flared in his black eyes, ice in his voice. "What tricks?"

"My brother can't have her and if Matt does," Sage shrugged, taking time to pour a drink for both of them. "It doesn't keep her prisoner."

The bar in front of them broke, Damon's fingers turning the wood into a fine powder. He said nothing for a moment, not even brushing the powder from his lap. Sage broke the silence first, "Be careful of the wood."

"Show me her." It was a black order, an icy command not even Sage would dare disobey.

He called the bartender over, "A bowl of water, _s'il__ vous __plait.__"_

They waited in a tense silence, Damon's utter stillness almost vibrating with tightly held fury. He had perfectly understood what Sage had been implying; the danger of being bitten or being kept in the Infernal Court. A human life spent in the Underworld.

Finally, the water was in front of them and the waitress compelled to ignore them. Water was important in the underworld, it guarded both boundaries and formed gateways, fueled the oracles of olden times and the legends of seeing more than a reflection. As a lord of the place, water in any dimension was Sage's tool. Sage touched it sending a ripple of power through it, creating a small gateway between their world and his home. "Mirror of the McCullough – Honeycutt guest quarters, _s'il__ vous __plait_. Keep it discreet."

The ripple obeyed, taking it's time to form into a picture. Sage's voice was subdued, "She should be sleeping. It's nighttime there."

Instead of sleeping Bonnie was sitting in the bed, knees pulled to her chest, staring down Sage's brother. She had a fine tremble running through her, a bronzed vampire lounging completely at ease at the end of the bed. "What do you say, Miss McCullough? It is a hard offer to refuse."

"You call that an offer?" Bonnie asked, something inside her shoring up. "That's a demand!"

Sage winced for her, murmuring softly, "Ares won't like that."

Bonnie was going on, a finger pointing even if her voice shook. "You know you can't _keep_ me! I'm a guest here and as you well know, since you pointed it out, I already _belong _to Matt. How dare you?"

"Bonnie's bravest when she's scared." Damon shot back at Sage, a dark pride flaring. "She gets mouthy too."

"Ah," Ares said, rolling closer to her with a feline smile. "My brother may have meant well, taking you from property to wife, but he forgot something. You crossed into our court with vampire blood in your veins, yet another type of ownership."

Bonnie trembled, a flash of painful regret in her eyes visible even across dimensions. Ares gave a soft chuckle, "You chose to share blood with him even against the mark on you, yet you didn't choose to be _owned,_ as you call it, by Mr. Honeycutt. You can't be a wife here against your will, we're old fashioned here, but not unfair."

Bonnie blanched, the blood leaving her face in a hurry, but she didn't falter. "You're lying. You can't touch me without his permission..."

"Where is he?" Damon hissed in a whisper.

Sage spared him a glance from his rapt attention on the bowl, "We don't have to whisper."

Ares was even closer to Bonnie on the bed, twisting a single curl around his finger. "Why do you think he's not here tonight?"

A full shudder ran though her, but yet again her courage prevailed, roused by fear. "I don't know, but if what you say is true then you can't touch me either. If it's my choice between _you_and him, I'll choose Matt every time."

He leaned closer, running elongated teeth down her neck just as the door opened. Matt's shocked, enraged voice rang out. "What's going on?"

"Get out." Bonnie said, more forceful than he'd ever heard her, clutching her knees closer.

"Let me know if you change your mind." Ares said, abandoning the bed and bowing to Matt on his way out.

"He's going by Ares now? When I met him it was Caius..." Damon commented, finally exhaling over the tense silence in the bowl.

"You know we never give our true names, Damon." Sage replied absently.

"Where were you?" Bonnie exploded at Matt, tears finally quivering on her lashes.

He glanced back at the door, throwing a thumb towards it as he approached the bed. "I got caught up talking with Hades. I was trying to see where Sage went." A pause as he sat on the edge, "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, tears spilling over. "He wants to take me as a replacement wife, so he can snack on me forever!" She buried her face in his chest, "He says...he says you don't really have me because I'd shared blood with Damon...Is that true?"

Matt's chest tensed, his arms gripping her too tight. "I don't know."

"Is it?" Damon demanded of Sage.

"No." Sage said shortly, never looking away from the bowl. "She's Matt's as long as she's there. Only you could challenge it since it was your blood."

"She'd pick me." It sounded confident, but Damon still followed it with another sip of his abandoned drink.

Sage frowned, "Would she? Your connection is strong, beyond strong, _mon __petit._But you have let Matt court her since Thanksgiving..."

"She wasn't ready." Damon sighed, yes he'd left at spring break, but it had been for her own good.

"In your eyes or hers?" Sage asked.

For that Damon had no answer, but anger. Sage stood, watching more wood turn to powder between Damon's hands. "I've got to get to the Dark Dimension."

Damon stood as well, kicking the stool out behind him. His anger bursting forth in a challenge. "So you're what? Just going to leave her there? Leave her in Mutt's care while your father and brothers play games?"

A thread of coldness ran through Sage as he turned away, "It's just the life of a mortal."

Damon grabbed him, spinning him back around. "It's the life of _my _mortal. You've challenged your father over far less."

"Don't start this." Sage said, eyeing the arm gripping him, challenge brewing in his bronze gaze.

"It's already started." Damon replied, throwing Sage across the bar and leaping after him. He was boiling for a good fight, the vampire hunters hadn't been nearly as experienced as they thought. Sage went through the bar, a crash of wood and glass raining down on him.

He landed against the back of the side bar with a swell of laughter bubbling out of him, pouring out until he was clutching his belly. "Oh _mon __corbeau._ I can always count on you to show me sense in the most unexpected ways. I shall protect your bird."

Damon backed out of his crouch slowly, oddly disappointed. "I hear a but coming."

Sage stood, shaking the glass from himself with a peculiar look in his eyes. "If it is between her being trapped or you, who would you choose?"

"Me." It was immediate and Sage nodded, his smile grim instead of happy.

"So it may be, my friend. So it may have to be." He reached out his hand, grasping Damon's forearm. "Until we meet again."

"Good hunting." Damon replied, grasping back, offering no apology for throwing him through a bar. Sage smiled and left, leaving Damon to deal with the aftermath of destroying the bar while sirens wailed closer.

…...


	5. I love Persephone?

A/N: Long time delay, but after this part I can post "Christmas Eve" and the last Thanksgiving installment. There will be an epilog. Reviews are precious! I'll get caught up over the holidays I promise!

I Love Persephone

"Bonnie?" Matt said softly into the darkness, knowing she too was unable to sleep tonight, her breathing occasionally suppressing a sob.

"Yeah?" She whispered back in an almost dead voice. She hadn't so much as smiled since her visit from Ares.

Matt tucked his hands back behind his head, resting against the pillow in the position he always did his heavy thinking in. Their situation had two issues: one Bonnie's immediate safety and need to have an official husband here, the second the conundrum Hades' offer had put Matt in. He knew to his core, feelings of Damon aside, that nothing good would come from making a deal with the devil. The very short list of possibilities had been going around and around in his head all night, a terrible circle that had no way out. This time he tried to approach the issue differently, he couldn't change the problem but he could change his perspective. "How comfortable are you about risking this, about being Ares...? Have you seen anything...?"

She was quiet a long time, long enough to let him know she had seen something and it wasn't good. "Not comfortable."

He nodded, before remembering she couldn't see him, though predawn light was starting to flicker outside. "I've been thinking...do you remember back in high school when we had Alaric as teacher?"

"Yeah. What about it?" Still the same empty voice, one that had kept whatever she saw to herself.

"We had that marriage project from different parts of the world, right? Yours was some Scottish thing, that wasn't permanent? I can't remember the name." It came out slowly as he thought back, trying to remember a class he hadn't paid attention to even while he was in it. "You called it a trial run of fun..."

He suddenly felt nervous in the silence, hearing her heart beat speed up and her lips open in a gasp. He could just see the outline of her eyes widening when it clicked, she sat straight up. "A handfasting. In Scotland it used to be common to take a bride for a year and a day, sort of like a trial run...Oh god, Matt your'e a genius!"

He pushed himself up onto one elbow facing her, grinning with, pride bursting in him. "So that's another option. You know, besides waiting for Sage to come back and fix everything."

She dropped back onto her pillows with a flounce, silence enveloping her as he laid back down, feeling a crash of disappointment that she hadn't said anything. Slowly she spoke, a small pause between each word at the beginning turning to a rush at the end. "Matthew Honeycutt are you asking me to marry you?"

He opened his mouth to deny it and abruptly shut it, his mouth felt dry and his heart was racing. Still he got the words out, "Huh, I guess I am."

She made a disgusted noise, but still curled herself across the bed until her head found his chest. "Well that was the most unromantic proposal ever! So unfair!"

Matt laughed, wrapping an arm around her, finding even a glimpse of childish Bonnie was much needed. "Do you want me to get on one knee?"

She gave a dramatic sigh, "No, it's ruined now. I don't even get a ring."

He gave her a little shake, still unable to wipe the smile from his face. "Pssh, I didn't even get an answer."

She sat up again. He could see her face now, outlined in predawn grayness, there was a soft shocked wonder there, a tentative joy blooming. "Seriously?"

He pushed back up onto his elbow, blue eyes catching hers and letting her see the truth there, he wanted this, there was nothing forced or desperate about the nonconventional request. There was no hint of joking when he spoke this time, "Seriously."

Her eyelashes lowered, a sudden shyness seizing her and her answer. "Well ok then."

Matt didn't know how to handle shy Bonnie, so he handled her the same way he did when she got over exuberant: he kissed her. It was long and sweet, waves of love and ripples of a tentative joy flowing between them. He pulled away finding her hand still clutching his cheek, her voice desperate, "Don't...Don't stop.."

With joy riding high and beseeching brown eyes how could he deny her? His protest was empty words, he couldn't stop this anymore. He didn't have the willpower to resist the rose scented air or his raging hormones. "We shouldn't..."

In response, she pulled him back to her lips.

…...

Damon's fury was unabating, even as he was quickly running out of things to take it out on. He'd thrown everything he could across the bar, sending tables and chairs flying. Everything but the direct source of this fresh searing rage: a seemingly harmless bowl of water that held a very intimate view of the Infernal Court. Even as he inflicted property damage he couldn't stop himself from looking into the damn bowl.

He hated the view, hated seeing what that damn dog was doing to his all too willing little bird. He'd started throwing glassware when Matt tore the pillowcase into strips, wrapping them awkwardly around the hand he was holding. Then he progressed to bottles of liquor as Bonnie half whispered promises, binding herself to Matt for their stay in the dimension. He'd thrown the first chair at her sharp gasp of pain and now he threw the last table as her nails scraped down the blond's back. She gasped softly, the same soft gasp she always let out when his teeth sunk into her neck, and Damon's control broke. He picked up the bowl, sending it into a thousand tiny pieces on the opposite wall. Instead he repeated the mental shout he'd been emitting on and off. _Sageeeeeeeeeee._

He was met with silence, not even the soft buzz of feedback that he had gotten it, he was already gone. A low female chuckle sounded from behind him and Damon spun, all of the patrons had fled already. The woman was leaning against the karaoke machine, long dark red curls vibrant against pale skin with moonlit eyes taking in the wreath of destruction. "Having a bad day?"

"You have no idea." He muttered, relaxing slightly, yet there was still something off about her. He sent a tendril of power her way, taking a step back at the deep reservoir of strength lurking under her gray eyes. "Who are you?"

"Sage asked me to come." She stepped forward, her black dress floating behind her. "My son said you were in need of assistance..."

Her son, that meant...that meant this woman in front of him was Queen of the dead, ruler of the Infernal Court. He breathed the name he learned growing up, " Proserpina."

Persephone. Kore. Prosperina had been popular during the Italian Renaissance, her name the root of all words having to do with prospering. Now she merely inclined her head, hair falling over her shoulder. "You seek entrance to my realm. Yet have not gone to our gate."

"I'm bound here, held by the waters. I need to get to the Infernal Court my mate depends on it." He didn't even notice what he'd called her in the softly mixed truths.

"Is she not the one who bound you here?" Her soft voice was thoughtful, but not particularly passionate.

"She thought it would keep me safe from your husband. It wasn't her choice! My safety doesn't matter here." It came out a passionate growl, furious and proud at once.

Persephone cocked her head to the side, as if listening to something in another room. She smiled softly to herself, "I can take you there, for a price..."

"What is it?" Damon asked, holding his face still. He didn't particularly care either way, he would pay it.

She looked at him for a long time, then spoke softly. "A favor, yet to be determined...I always need my own agents in this realm."

"Fine." There was no hesitation, "Let's go."

She held out her arm, a half smile gracing the blank face. "Come, child of darkness."

He went, linking her arm and stepping into the sudden blackness.

…...

Bonnie sank deeper into the bubbles, letting the warmth of the bath run through her. She'd been incredibly sore when she'd first awoken, sharp pains in all of the wrong places. Matt, perfect darling Matt, had been apologetic and understanding all at once. He'd run her a bath and even carried her when they discovered her legs weren't quite up to walking yet, never once mentioning if the red scratches covering his back hurt.

Now he was apologizing again, sitting next to the tub. "I really am sorry, Bonnie. I tried to be as gentle as I could."

"You were," she paused grinning at him, "the first time."

His answering smile was sheepish and she laughed in response, "Seriously, it's fine. Meredith told me after she and Alaric's first time she felt like she'd been hit by a mac truck and they only did it once. So, no more apologizing!"

"Didn't think Alaric had it in him." Matt commented with a touch of respect, "Do you want me to skip practice?"

She shook her head emphatically, "No. You go ahead. I just want a little nap before Hades. We didn't sleep much..."

He leaned over and gave her a kiss, before heading out of the bathroom. "Alright...I don't want to go. I'll ask if Lara can get the sheets changed as well, honey. So don't be alarmed if you hear someone come in, ok?"

"Ok." She responded as she leaned back, the bed certainly needed it after last night. No longer pure wasn't right, it certainly wasn't as if she was impure, but no longer a girl. Now she was Matt's fully in this realm, beloved and protected by the man she had chosen. The white envelope with her name on it, sitting omniously on Matt's desk back home flashed in her head again. She tried to push the image away, but it stayed and she saw herself reading the letter, tears running down her face. This time when she desperately pushed at it the image disappeared, it didn't matter now. She'd made her choice, deciding on having this no matter how terribly it might end.

She adjusted the pillow behind her head as she heard Matt leave the suite, her eyes already drifting shut, drifting into dreams of the future she couldn't stop. She needed to get caught up on all of the sleep she'd missed last night and this bath was the perfect place to doze. She was just fading into deeper sleep when she could hear the suite door open again and people moving around. A voice came, "Redbird?"

"In here." She replied not opening her eyes at first, realization not sinking until the door was already opening.

…...

It was only 10 steps in the darkness, his arm still linked through Persephone's before light became visible. Another ten steps and he was standing a lantern lit hallway, blinking at the sudden brightness. He looked around assessing the situation, Persephone leading him a few steps further to a door. "This is their suite."

He didn't even think about knocking, all the easier to surprise Mutt and snap his damn neck. Instead he opened the door, finding to his annoyance Persephone followed him in. He took in the entire empty room in a second, the rumpled, questionably stained bed, the trail of clothes, the picture frame off kilter on the wall. He threw out his voice, trying his best to control his anger, "Redbird?"

"In here." It came from the bathroom, a sleepy murmur. He threw open the door roughly, finding her in the tub, brown eyes wide.

"Damon?" Her voice was completely shocked, clutching at herself.

"What the hell did you do?" It was a furious accusation, a black confirmation. "I saw the bloody bed."

She reddened, a flush spreading across her cheeks, down her neck and across her chest. "That's...that's none of your business."

She'd finished weakly, brown eyes flinging to the the curious person. "Who are you?"

"Persephone." Damon snapped it before the other redhead even opened her mouth, "How dare you? I...I.."

"Should we wait outside?" Persephone interrupted, her voice apologetic and distant at once. "We truly didn't mean to interrupt your bath, child."

"Please. I'll be out in a minute." Bonnie nodded gratefully at her, eyes ignoring Damon. He couldn't ignore her though, nor the thoughts she was projecting. An image playing on repeat in her mind: her sitting on the floor of Matt's half empty bedroom, sobbing uncontrollably in Meredith's arms.

Persephone pulled him out, shutting the door behind him. Damon regarded her with fury, but she spoke first, her voice firm. "Be gentle with her. Or else." The grey eyes held him, a warning, "It was her choice."

Damon shook his head, spinning around, running a hand through his dark hair looking at the bed again. He felt his icy control snap back into place, reverberating down his spine like cold water. He kept his back to the queen, "Fine."

He took two deep breaths before he heard water moving, a painful gasp and the smack of someone hitting the tub forcefully, water splashing out. He said nothing, too angry to care, too hurt to be tender with her. She was his. It didn't matter if he'd left at spring break after ripping her throat out, it didn't matter that he'd been cruel and forceful, it only mattered that she had chosen that damn dog. Mutt, blond and simple like a golden retriever, painfully loyal Mutt.

Eventually his patience wore thin, his voice a bark. "Are you coming out or not?"

"Miss Persephone?" The hesitant bird song came from the bathroom, "Can you come in here?"

"Why?" Damon snapped back, even though Persephone was already easing the door open.

"I need help...standing." It was a miserable admittance, embarrassed and shy all at once. Damon forced the door all the way open, finding her in the tub, a soaking towel around her in the slightly pink water. A vision of another time, another bath where chunks of his walls broke away where this time they only hardened.

He yanked her up by the arms abruptly, the towel falling away, his eyes catching something he never wanted to see on her skin: a soft purpling. He shook her in his fury, fingers digging into her skin. "He hurt you. He forced you."

"No," Bonnie tried to protest, clawing back at his hands, still trying to wrap arms around herself. "It's normal!"

His fingers began to dig deeper, a voice full of power forcing him to halt. "Stop. I won't standby and let you hurt her..." Persephone took a breath, watching as he was forced to obey, his fingers loosening around her arms. "Bruising is normal the first time, unused muscles getting used to new pressure. My husband won't let a woman be taken without consent here, Damon, lest the man suffer my wrath."

His nostrils flared at the truth, daggers trying to stab into the iciness that had engulfed him again. Still, he released her, handing her the spare towel and taking a step back. She wrapped it around herself, looking at the floor and stepping out of the tub gently. Still Bonnie said nothing, her face trained on the ground, still blushing. Her other foot came out, her eyes flicking to Persephone, "Can I get dressed in peace?"

"Why shy now? I've seen you, Matt's seen you, I'm sure Ares has seen it by now too." It was so easy to fall back into casual cruelty, why the hell wouldn't she look at him?

A flash of hurt crashed across her face, followed by an intense longing he could tell was for Elena and Meredith. Abruptly it shifted into anger, her nose crinkling and brown eyes lighting up. Her voice shook, "Get out! I didn't want you here and I won't let you speak to me like that!"

She trembled under his gaze, his unmoving feet, a hand flinging towards the door with tears threatening in her eyes. "Out! You left at spring break because you didn't want me. Now that I'm with Matt, suddenly you do? I'm worth more than that, Damon."

"Bonnie, I'm back!" Matt's cheery voice came from the doorway to the suite, "You out of the bath?"

Damon cocked his head and a half second later his fist was colliding with Matt's face, sending him sprawling. He picked him up and threw him across the room, sending him into the plaster and concrete walls, his attention only on coldly calculated death. "How dare you..."

Then Bonnie was there, towel wrapped and desperate, clinging to him. She was shoving herself between them, clutching at him desperately while trying to shield Matt. Damon had little warmth left for her, shoving her aside as gently as he could before turning his attention back to Mutt. He wrapped his hands around Matt's throat beginning to squeeze, ignoring the desperate sobbing near his feet, ignoring the redhead clutching at his leg until her nails dug into it. He glanced down, finding desperate eyes and a long gash on one cheek, bleeding delicately. Her voice was pleading, it was demanding and even in icy anger he couldn't deny her. "Please don't. Stop! Stop Damon, Stop! Hurt me, please, just stop..."

He let Matt drop, blue faced and choking to the ground. He couldn't kill Mutt with her watching, not with her brown eyes so wide. She hiccuped without letting go of his leg, turning to Persephone with a desperate plea. "Get him out of here. I bound him for a reason."

"You don't want me here?" It came out a black snap, indignant and offended.

"No." Her voice shook, her fingers unlatching from his leg as she turned towards where Matt was choking on the ground. Horrified brown eyes flicked back to his as she reached for him, "You left me for this, remember? So I could have this chance with Matt. So I could be normal and happy...Don't you dare ruin it, Damon."

He opened his mouth to argue with her, his hand already reaching for her as Persephone stepped forward. She touched his shoulder and he was whisked back into blackness without so much as a breath, they stayed there for longer this time. Held in a purgatory of darkness until his emotions cooled somewhat, until his anger became manageable. They stepped back into the ruined bar, Damon stewing in tight control.

Persephone spoke first, her voice soft. "Those of us who have forever often forget how quickly mortal hearts flicker between loves. How quick the chances we had counted on go..."

He wanted to protest she hadn't flickered, but how could he with the evidence in his face? She'd chosen Matt right in front of him, given him all she had to give under the tenants of the Infernal Court. Instead he said the only thing he could, the only thing that reverberated under this black anger. "She still loves me."

Persephone eyed him for a long time, not really seeing him, beats of silence stretching between them. "Aye, not even her husband would deny that...Yet have you ever returned her sentiments?"

Damon held his silence, the fear of attachment even greater than anger. Blank grey eyes flicked to him, reading him. "She'll always be his in a way, in my realm, you've given him that much...Yet, she'll be yours too for far longer..."

"Why are you doing this?" Accusatory black velvet requested, a harsh volley that couldn't hide its delight at her words.

The dark woman gave a half shrug, red curls shaking down her back. "My husband has his games and I have mine...And your Bonnie has always been mine, as her grandmother was before her as her niece will be after."

"What do you mean?" Another demand, none of his confusion showing in the black eyes.

For the first time her grey eyes filled with an emotion, her words slow to come. "Her line's sight is a gift of mine, I too once knew Hades would come for me as he does for them. A captive sparrow in a gilded cage, yet a captive all the same. So I grant the sight, a chance and a choice."

"She chose wrong." Damon said softy: thinking of her binding him in Texas, thinking of her choice of Matt.

"Did she?" The grey eyes were hardening again, "She knows how this all ends. Perhaps, child of darkness, she chose not for herself but for others."

He had no reply to that, his little bird indeed often put others before herself. Persephone was already fading though, drifting into darkness where she stood. "I'll collect my favor another time."

Then she was gone.

…...

Hades walked them towards the ferry dock slowly, months had passed for them in easy companionship and tense days for Damon. Hades had not liked that they had avoided both Ares claim and Hades offer of Damon's soul, but had given in to their spontaneous handfasting with a suspicious amount of grace. On one hand Matt wanted to stay in this idyllic land, undo the heart wrenching goodbye he'd had to say to his father for the second time, play football and spend his nights locked up with Bonnie and on the other he was ready for home. He missed his mom, he missed eating, he missed the sky. So it was a bittersweet heart they came to a stop next to the dock, the river swirling brightly by where Bonnie stood. She drifted away from Matt, untangling their hands as she turned back to Hades, her eyes almost frightened.

"I am sorry the negotiations have come to an end. Might I convince you to stay, Bonnie?" He paused taking Matt into his gaze, "An eternal life of this...of time spent with your loved ones, of no hardships or responsibilities. A life of your de-facto marriage with ."

Hades paused, taking in the wide brown eyes, deciding he had yet more to offer as she stepped towards the boat. "Children if the two of you want them, I can negotiate fresh souls from across the Lethe if need be.

"No thank you, I don't wish to renegotiate." Bonnie replied politely, though her fingers shook. Still she took another step towards freedom, another step closer to the ferry. Another step away from this life, another step closer to the change she could feel reverberating in the air. She could see it in her head, herself flying towards the river.

Matt watched it all unfold in horror, feeling frozen and disconnected as the words came slowly out of Hades' twisted mouth, the mask of civility dropping away abruptly. "You refuse my offer?"

Bonnie's nod was resolute even as she trembled, "I don't belong here yet, Hades. You know that..." Her voice broke, "You promised me a natural death."

"And a natural death you shall have." The response was accompanied by a shove, sending a teetering Bonnie into the river Phlegethon. She floundered and Matt rushed forward, his fingers just missing her, restrained by Sage's iron grip.

She was screaming, the river of fire burning her, not physically for it needed no fuel, but burning away her life force, stealing her youth. She dragged herself to the bank, pulling herself out even as her hair faded from dark strawberry blonde to peach, wrinkles appearing on her face and hands. Sage couldn't hold him back then and Matt rushed forward, dropping onto the ground next to her. Brown eyes were being dulled by cataracts, the peach in her hair fading to white. Her voice was gravely, "Matt.."

Tears were running down his face as he fumbled with the backpack, panic running the show. None of this seemed real, his panicked mind completely disconnected from his acting hands. His hands shook as he pulled out the bottle he'd stashed there, hoping against hope he'd never have to use it. Only human he'd brought the only magical thing he could, the water from the fountain of eternal youth and life. She was still struggling to talk, her brown eyes staring blankly up, "Matt I'm so sorry, the life we could have had..."

"Don't, Bonnie. It'll be fine..." He clutched the cold effervescent bottle with shaking hands, one hand shaking as he unscrewed the top.

"Tell Damon," her voice was raspy whisper now, tears escaping her old woman's face. "I'm sorry..."

Still crying he poured a shaking capful of the liquid, holding it to her lips. His hands burned where he touched her, the eternal water spilling on him as he poured it into her mouth. He pulled it away beginning to pour another capful when he could see it was working, she was aging backwards now just as quick as she had aged forward. White to peach, straw like peach hair bouncing back into strawberry curls, cataracts disappearing as wrinkles faded. A sob escaped his lips as she blinked, Bonnie again. Young, beautiful, cursed.

She sat up, muscles shaking with strain, looking at him with an uncomprehending expression on her face. "Matt?"

He held up the Evian bottle, the icy water still bubbling and she understood. He couldn't speak if he wanted to. Her own tears soaking her curls, "Thank you."

Hades let out a howl of rage, "How dare you defy me?"

Matt ignored him, helping her stand before turning them to face Hades. He wiped his face hurriedly, "If you want a soul today, take mine. She's out of your reach now, she's had the water of eternal youth and life."

The fury was fading into howling laughter, Hades eyeing them with mirth. "No. She's not, she drank here. Only a sip, but she's mine at least once a year." Bonnie trembled in Matt's arms, but Hades went on. "And you, stupid human boy. You've ruined your own life, haven't you?"

Matt blanched, but held her closer, forcibly turning them towards where Charon waited with the ferry. Hades mocking words floated after them, his amusement engulfing them. "You've thrown away your life...she'll never age, never carry your child, never grow old with you. I can see it, you know."

Matt helped her on the boat, trying to hold back the sting of tears at the words. Bonnie was alive, that was what mattered. Still the words came, unrelenting in their joy at hurting him. "She was going to chose you in the end. Truly marry you, love you and now its gone and I'll revel in your misery day in and day out."

The boat was moving away and if tears were running down his face, it was understandable. Still the words came, floating over the river to them, torturing him. "And when you die...you'll spend eternity as my fool. A second too late to save her, watching her with that vampire of hers..."

Bonnie turned at that, pulling out of Matt's crushing embrace. She stalked to the back of the boat, leaving him clutching the front rails in agony. Her angry voice carried across the river, doing nothing to salve his heart. "You'll do no such thing. His soul is mine, as you well know. I came here to save them, to barter their souls and I did what you asked." She paused, her honeyed tones becoming an inhuman hiss. "I'll come each year as I'm bound and if you say one more word to him, I'll ruin you, Hades."

Laughter floated across the water and her resounding words silenced it. "My power grows every day and I have..." she choked on the word, "eternity to do it."

…...

Meredith could hear Elena's tension as she whipped open the phone, answering on the first ring. "Matt?"

"Speakerphone." Meredith hissed at her, a wave of relief sweeping her as Elena complied, laying the phone on the dashboard of their rented car as Stefan drove, eyes worried.

"We're back." Matt's voice was morose, black and blocked from emotion.

"Bonnie?" Elena's own voice made up for his lack of emotion, worried and high.

"She's fine." A dark chuckle, leading out a pause that had Elena's hand grasping blindly for Meredith's. Meredith clutched back, holding her own breath in fear, until Matt continued on. "Well...she's alive at least."

Meredith's heart dropped and she could hear Stefan's calm voice as if it was an echo. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the airport. Bonnie's got the car." Still the same dead tones, screaming of issues too scarring to mention. Matt had been melancholy and disenchanted with life after Elena died and that was nothing compared to the deadness in his voice now.

"Why aren't you together? What happened?" Elena's questions were rapid fire, voice calm though her nails dug into Meredith's palm.

There was a long beat of silence on the other end, a shaky breath threatening to break down. He spoke only three words, "Bonnie's alive..." Two beats, two struggling breaths echoing down the line. Then a final word, so broken, so tormented part of Meredith wanted to scream. "forever."

Pandemonium hit their car, Stefan swerving off the road as Elena was screaming down the phone for an explanation. Meredith sat in the backseat, enveloped in an odd silence, words echoing but not reaching her. She breathed in and out, willing calm where she had only chaos. It came, practiced and familiar, flowing into her body even as her mind whirred and waited.

Matt's voice was broken, "I saved her the only way I could." Another choked sound, cutting itself off. "You girls should get to Austin...my plane is leaving."

Then a click, a final sounding click that gave no answers and offered no solace. Meredith clutched at the handle as Stefan flipped the U-turn, finding her brother forgotten in the wake of this news. He could wait.

….but now, so could Bonnie.

Tires screeched and she could only hang on.

…...

Bonnie drove slowly along the highway, content to let cars whiz by her. Things still seemed unreal, had since she and Matt had stumbled out of a closet in the Alamo. Her torn dress, not fully dry from her bath in fire, his torn, broken expression a testament to their travels. Matt had changed quickly at the hotel, shrugging off her thanks with haunted eyes. "Don't thank me yet when you'll hate me in the years to come."

She'd clutched at him then, promising never to hate him. His blue eyes had been ruined, as he looked at her over his shoulder, "Hades was right. I ripped your future..." another hesitant step towards the door, his eyes leaving hers, "our future away."

As much as he tried to hide it, he couldn't. Bonnie couldn't turn her gift off any more than she could stop the sun rising. She could see what he saw, his thoughts, his dreams being ripped away. Her laughing, holding a child on her hip watching him play football with a toddler, her face with tiny crows feet around her eyes, wrinkled hands clutching each other on a porch. All gone. All ruined.

….But she could also see the new future rising for him if he couldn't, a chance with a familiar face. Sue Carson's purity radiating from a white wedding dress, children not dodged by destinies' too heavy to carry.

Only a second had passed since his eyes left hers and she reached after him, knowing how futile it was. "Matt...It was the only choice."

Matt had paused at the door. "It wasn't my choice to make though."

She had stumbled after him, begging him to forgive her and he had held firm. He hadn't looked at her. "I have to go." His voice trembled. "Fall training starts tomorrow and I have to be back. We'll talk in Virginia, ok?"

"Ok." It had come out strong as she watched him leave the hotel room, his back tense with a thousand things. He'd fled and part of that action hurt worse than the idea of eternity alone. She'd have to watch him as grow old and die, watch as time turned and she didn't turn with it.

The memory was pushed aside as she took the designated exit, fear beginning to curl in her stomach. She knew what had happened with Matt but she didn't know what would happen with Damon and she was about to find out.

She crossed the river and wasn't terribly surprised when the car stuttered to a stop next to a stand of trees. With one deep breath she got out, clutching herself in the wind rallying around her. "Damon?"

He melted from the darkness of the tree line, the touch of solace in his voice too strong to hide. An exhale of relief, "You're alive."

She said nothing and he took another breath, anger filtering in. "And alone."

A shrug, she was alone now. Whatever arrangement, whatever closeness she and Matt had held had gone up in flames just as surely as she had. "Matt had to get back for fall training."

His eyes narrowed and too tired to argue she simply conceded the point. "Yes, that's a lie. Can I free you before we talk?"

He merely nodded and she whipped out her little piece of mesquite and hair, lit the match and set it burning. They watched it, his controlled voice not waiting. "Did Sage stay behind?"

Bonnie dropped the burning twig, wrapping her arms around herself again. How to phrase all of this correctly? "He had some...things to attend to." A pause, "Is there a town?"

Damon was watching the smoldering twig, "Part of one." Black eyes to hers, "I don't forgive you for this. Any of it."

She shifted her feet, trying to hide her disappointment, first Matt left in anger now Damon. "I have time."

His laugh was black as he turned, "Do you? It took my own brother five centuries to make things right, little one, don't forget that."

"I have time." She repeated, sucking in a breath and steeling herself as he half turned back, studying her.

He was quiet a long time, his head cocked to one side and she could feel his power testing her aura. Finally he spoke, the words little more than a whisper. "You do, don't you? Eternity lines you but you haven't Changed..."

"One capful from the fountain of eternal youth and life, from the Kitsune treasures." It sounded dead coming out of her mouth, a clinical fact that betrayed none of the raging emotions she was left with.

A single soft curse word in Italian and she could feel his anger at her abating, shifting. She took a step closer and another, making him voice the question. "What happened?"

She couldn't look at him, "Hades wanted to keep me and when none of his tricks or offers worked he threw me into the river of fire. It feasts on souls and burns on lives, on youth." This time her voice broke in her clinical retelling, "Matt saved me the only way he could. An eternity of youth, a life of annual visits to the Infernal Court."

He hissed, "I'm going to kill him. Eternity was _mine _to give you."

She said nothing, all these years she had assumed changing was her choice, all these years thinking she had a say in her own life. It had never been her choice. It had never been a choice at all. She tried to tell him this, "No it wasn't."

He stepped closer, eyes darkening in anger, not comprehending her. "I can still Change you..."

She swallowed, taking a step back and another and another until her back was up against the car, him stalking her all the way. Her voice shook in a weak protest. "That's my choice."

He ran a finger down her neck, black eyes thoughtful, "Just like it was my choice to accompany you to hell, regardless of the dangers. Yet you took that, didn't you?"

"To protect you." Another weak protest, words he disregarded.

He was already turning her head to the side, black eyes icing over and she realized he was still furious. Maybe more furious than he'd even been at spring break when he left the first time. His words were low, dark and all too compelling. "This is to protect you, little one. Eternity as a weak human doesn't suit you. Perhaps I take this choice from you, an eye for an eye as they say."

She put her hands uselessly on his chest in protest, her eyes catching the ring Matt had gotten from his grandmother, the ring that held no meaning anymore. A tear slipped from her eye and she wasn't sure if it was for her and Matt, her and Damon or simply fear. "Don't..."

He hesitated for the smallest moment before letting his black aura engulf her, wrapping her in arms of waiting darkness and piercing her neck with twin stings of fire. She put up no walls this time, letting him flood her, letting him dive into her time in the Infernal Court. She didn't fight the blood being drawn, didn't have any energy left to put up any sort of resistance. His anger and fury battered her at first, his helplessness washing over and through her before slowly fading into hurt, yet that faded too as her legs gave out. Eventually, it was just Bonnie and Damon at the edge of the world, kneeling together at the edge of the forest over a life, only this time it was hers. He pulled away and she saw stars in his eyes before the world went black.

…...


	6. I love Fall?

A/N: Crap. This was posted Jan 13th, I have an email saying it went up from ff...but apparently it didn't. So I do apologize! I started a new job and this is the first chance I've had to get to reviews...except there weren't any so I realized something went wrong :(

As an apology: send me a prompt and you'll get a little something (or a story if it's super good) in response!

I Love Fall

Bonnie woke up in the backseat of the car with a sore neck and a raging headache. She touched her neck tenderly, feeling the large raised bruise and torn puncture wounds. He hadn't licked them to make them heal, instead leaving them ragged and painful. She managed to sit up slowly one fist jammed against her forehead to try and keep the pain at bay. She felt dehydrated and hung over; he'd taken too much and given her no blood in return. She let out a small groan, groping for a water bottle when she stopped, feeling his eyes on her. He was watching her and she looked slowly around the car then out the window. She couldn't see him anywhere, but his gaze was like fire on her skin. She called for him, her voice rough and gravely. "Damon?"

_Elena and Meredith's flight arrives in Austin in an hour. You should get on the road. _His thoughts were cool and distant, an icy layer over writhing fire.

The you had been painfully singular, a twisting of a knife where she was used to hearing "we". The same coldness that threaded through him whenever he wanted distance. He was leaving again. She spoke aloud, trying to respect his distance. "How are you getting home?"

There was no answer, no black voice in her mind and that was answer enough. He wasn't coming home, he wasn't even snapping back about not having a home. He was just silent, telling her in a lack of words everything she needed to know. Her voice trembled, "Don't go."

There was a long pause, a hesitation, and then Bonnie felt his invisible eyes leave her, the intense gaze disappearing. His mind touched hers again, still cold, but there was a thread of hope under the ice. _I'll be home by Thanksgiving. _

Then he was gone, a bird heading for the horizon and she was left with nothing. Nothing but pain and uncertainty, nothing but the memory of a once golden summer razed to the ground. She climbed into the front seat and started the car, there was nothing left to do here. She pulled it back onto the road, heading for the only thing she had left, the only thing she would always have: the sisterhood. Elena and Meredith, best friends who would love her and heal her no matter what mistakes she made.

…...

"It's fine, Bonnie. He'll come around." Elena said in the diner, motioning for Bonnie to eat. "Eat something."

"Which he?" Meredith asked sharply before giving a genuine frown at seeing Bonnie's expression. She had gotten them at the airport with a vacant expression and a ripped out neck complete with swollen puncture wounds.

"Neither." Bonnie responded morosely, still pushing food around her plate.

Meredith frowned again, shushing Elena's sigh. "Matt will come around, Bonnie. He loves you."

"So does Damon." Elena chimed in.

Bonnie frowned at her food, putting the useless fork down. She was beaten down and broken after Matt's abrupt exit and Damon's ruthless one. Her only hope had been that he would be back by Thanksgiving, no forgiveness, no solace, just unrelenting anger. She took a gulp, bruised eyes drooping down. "They won't. Matt's done, has been done since it started. Damon...Damon...I can't die."

Elena and Meredith exchanged glances, familiar ones over this past day with their morose friend. She'd picked them up and driven them across Texas without crying until she'd eventually broken during the night, unable to sleep snuggled up against Meredith who just couldn't be the warm, male body she was used too. Meredith took a sip of her drink, "Bonnie, yes, you can't die, but you used to always say that you would live forever!"

"I was an idiot!" Bonnie responded passionately.

"No, you were a psychic six year old who had no idea." Elena reasoned, taking a bite, before setting down her fork. "Look, you used to talk about it all the time, long before young and beautiful in your coffin. You'll still have that too...just later."

"Not. Helping." Bonnie ground out, teeth clenched in her mouth. She could see the letter on Matt's desk in her mind, a heartbreaking ending to a summer full of love. She pushed the image away like she had every other time it appeared, she didn't want to read a letter saying it was over, a letter saying he was staying with a friend from the team.

"Well what will help?" Meredith asked seriously, grey eyes contrite. "We can stop at every ridiculous tourist attraction on the drive back, take the beach route..."

"Yeah!" Elena chimed in, "We can spend the last two weeks of summer on a high note. Having fun."

"Ok." Bonnie's response was small, but for the first time, hopeful.

…...

It was later that week they were sitting in a motel room along the coast in Florida, passing a bottle of wine back and forth. Bonnie's heart was finally feeling less heavy, as if the farther they got away from Texas, away from the marks on her soul binding her to Matt, the more the writing on her heart seemed to fade. It wasn't that she didn't still love him, but it wasn't the same desperate, heart wrenching love. They'd talked about it at length, wondering how much of the Infernal Court's environment had played a role in such an intense courtship. Bonnie could feel the wine hitting her and Elena's eyes did have a familiar sheen, "Bonnie, I don't get it. I know Damon gets pissed when he's left out...but not like this."

Bonnie took the bottle from her, taking a long sip to hold her silence. She looked down at the small ring she hadn't been able to take off yet, not until she talked to Matt or read that final letter waiting for her in Virginia. It flashed in her mind again, the white envelope that would break her heart just enough to let it begin to fully heal. Meredith answered for her, "Jealousy, Elena. Gotta be. He's jealous that they finally had a relationship."

Bonnie twisted the ring, finding she had to tell them, had wanted to tell them for months. She managed a smile, this was going to shock them. She met Meredith's eyes, correcting her, "A physical relationship."

Elena sputtered on the wine and Meredith quirked an eyebrow, all but crowing. "Matthew Honey-cutt, in the flesh!" She wiggled her eyebrows, "So...?"

Bonnie flushed, grabbing the wine bottle from Elena who passed it eagerly, still wiping her face. "Spill, Bonnie!"

Both Bonnie and Meredith gave her a strange look and Elena merely shrugged primly, "We never got that far as you well know. I went to France...and I always wondered."

Bonnie only blushed harder, Meredith prodded again. "How was it?"

"Frequent." It burst out of Bonnie, the first thing that came to mind. She got redder and put her hand over her mouth, giggles escaping from behind the hand to match her friends laughter.

Meredith gave a half shrug, though she wiggled her eyebrows again. "Well, that's to be expected. You did keep the boy in heat for about two years before giving in."

"He didn't like me that long!" Bonnie protested.

"No, he didn't tell you until over a year had passed. The rest of us heard plenty about it." Elena corrected, before smiling again. "Well, how was the first time? I know you were scared..."

"Elena," Bonnie tried to protest, "That's private."

Still she took a sip of the wine, knowing Elena would drag it out of her. Elena did, her blue eyes going innocent and her voice soft, "I'm just curious, Bonnie. You were all alone and well, if I hadn't had Stefan I would have wanted mine to be with Matt. He's such a gentleman..."

She took another sip of wine before answering, thinking back to the grey morning with ripped pillowcase binding their hands together, to the fear and desperate joy she'd felt. To the knowledge that had run through her knowing it would end and pulling his face closer all the same. Her words were slow, "It was...bittersweet. I knew we wouldn't last, but I was really happy that night."

"I bet you were." Meredith interjected.

Bonnie gave a sheepish smile. "I couldn't walk the next morning I was so sore. Then Damon showed up and everything went to hell in a hand basket. That's why he is mad, even though it wasn't to hurt him..."

There was more laughter, a flurry of questions they wanted to ask. She stood, grabbing her phone before either of them could protest. Meredith was still looking pleased with herself, demanding Elena pay up over some bet. Bonnie gave them a smile, there was something she had to do. "I'm going to walk on the beach, ok? Just for a little while."

Elena yawned, batting at Meredith's hand, though it was Meredith who spoke, her sharp eyes not missing a beat. "Want company?"

"No, not tonight." Bonnie replied, holding Meredith's gaze with almost a begging expression. "Its not like anything can hurt me anymore."

Meredith looked thoughtful, rising herself, "Still, be careful."

Bonnie turned the door handle, Meredith's soft voice stopping her, Wake me up if yo need me, ok?"

"I will." The door swung shut behind her and she headed towards the beach and the dock.

She walked along the beach for a few minutes, trying to build up her courage for the phone call. When she had it she pressed the speed dial so hard she broke a nail, trying to harness the fleeting strength. Bonnie held her breath, feet coming to a stop as it rang once, twice and a third time. Her finger moved to the end button, what would she leave in a message?

"Hello?" The tired voice echoed down the line. She hadn't really been expecting him to answer, she had just wanted...well wanted something.

She froze, panicked and hung up. "Crap."

She stared at the phone and began walking again, glancing up at the moon when the phone rang. A deep breath, "You can do this McCullough."

Another deep breath, another ring and she answered, her voice falsely cheery. "Hi Matt! What can I do for you?"

"You called?" He asked, tension lurking in the southern honey of his voice.

"An...an accident. I hope I didn't wake you." She flailed, why was this so hard when they had been so close a week ago?

"Can't sleep." A terse response that had her imagining him running a hand through tousled blond hair.

"I know the feeling." The easy commiseration slipped out before she had time to get tongue tied.

"You too?" His voice was softening.

"Yeah..." She turned to glance at the ocean, trying to find the words to explain how sleeping with Elena and Meredith in the room was so different now, yet still the same. She couldn't. "Elena snores and Meredith hogs the covers."

"Oh." He sounded almost disappointed. It drug out into a long pause, neither knowing what to say, but wanting to fix the current circumstances. Finally Matt stepped up, "How did it go with Damon?"

"Oh, you know..." Bonnie trailed off, suddenly acutely aware that Matt might not have the same tolerance for Damon's antics after this particular summer.

"Did he hurt you?" Protective, yet resigned. The spark of fury, of anger, of jealousness seemed to have gone away. That sharp difference in caring hurt more than his short answers, hurt more than being walked out on in a hotel room, it was the twisting of the knife.

"He ripped my throat out and left me for dead." The sharp flash of his rejection made her words an angry challenge, almost a proud one.

Matt didn't rise to the bait as he once would have. Instead his tones were carefully neutral, "That was to be expected... Look Bonnie,...I'm sure he'll come around." Another long pause, Matt's natural bitterness creeping in, "He always does."

"You used to too." It slipped out before she could stop it.

He sighed into the phone and she cringed, "Bonnie, I-"

"I'm sorry." She interrupted, "That was..uncalled for. I..." She took a deep breath, this was going to hurt to say. "I..I get it, Matt. You don't want to do this anymore...and that's ok. It has to be."

"It's not that I don't want to." It exploded from the other end of the line, his frozen passion returning in a torrent. There was a pause then his words came, anguished and completely, terribly honest. "God, Bonnie I do, I want it more than you know. But I can't do this. I ruined our life, do you understand that? Our life together...and I can't handle anything less. I can't be with you for just a little while, it's all or nothing for me. I..."

"I get it." She cut him off, tears stinging her eyes in bitter realization. Why had she always pushed the vision away? Why had she always stopped when the letter on the desk said he was staying with someone else without reading the reason. They spilled over, "I can't give you a human life, no kids, no growing old. No having a coaching career..."

"No, I took it from us. You didn't do anything..." He took a deep breath that shook down the line, controlling his own emotions and turning down the intensity. "I always had a feeling I was on borrowed time with you anyway... I think we've all inevitably known it's Damon in the end."

Tears were running freely down her cheeks, her words blurred. "It was the best summer I've ever had. I wanted us to have that at least..."

He said nothing as she cried and finally she calmed herself somewhat, asking in a very small voice. "Can we be friends at least?"

He took a long time to answer, his own voice thick. "In time, I think. I'm going to stay with Ralph for awhile...I need some distance."

Some distance to get over you, some distance to get over us. Some distance from this crazy supernatural life. He didn't have to say it, she could feel it. Matt had never wanted this, had always been there for them yet never embraced it the way the rest of them had found themselves tied irrevocably in. Elena with Stefan, Meredith with her own issues and Alaric's research and Bonnie with her powers. Matt was the only one who was held in because he simply cared.

"Ok." She agreed in a small voice, though it hurt. It hurt so sharply she dropped into the sand, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping arms around them. Their house wouldn't be the same without Matt's cheery presence, without grilled cheese after going out, without terrible movies, without him there to banter with Stefan. "Will you come back?"

A small hesitation and Bonnie got a flash of Matt running another hand through his hair, glancing at Ralph in the next little bed in their messy training camp room. "I'll be home by Thanksgiving, honey."

The corner of her mouth tipped up at the endearment and she whispered words that were true, words that promised to carry their perfect summer into forever with her. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." His words were soft, suspiciously thick. "I've got to get some rest."

"Practice hard! You know what's riding on touchdowns!" She shot back, her smile bittersweet. She didn't know if there would be anymore kisses for touchdowns, anymore gatorade getting dumped on her.

She heard him inhale then the line click off, no goodbye, no joke, just the sound of a broken heart realizing it's time to heal. She said into the phone anyway, "Bye, Matt."

She placed the phone into the sand, the moonlight catching the ring she was still wearing. She stared at it, transfixed for a long time. How long it took for her to slip it off, for those dreams to be washed away with the tide she would never know. Eventually, she placed it on the sand and stood up, stretching. A familiar uneasy fire ran down her spine and she tensed in anticipation. Slowly, she looked around then took a step forward and spun to face him.

Damon looked completely out of place on the beach, as he would any beach. His dark brooding expression didn't help any, but he bent down and picked up her discard ring and held it out to her silently. She didn't take it, it had taken so much to remove it, her voice came out petulant. "I don't want it!"

One black eyebrow quirked then the ring disappeared into his jacket, he was calmer though his anger was not completely gone. "Not now, you don't."

Bonnie wrapped her arms around herself and began walking, unsure of why he was here. He fell into step beside her, walking silently for a few minutes. After she was convinced he wouldn't speak he did, his voice tired. "As time goes on, little bird, you'll find that nothing is ever _daverra finito_."

Something in her heart twisted, she couldn't take the thought of thinking she would have to drag herself and Matt through anything like this summer again. Her words were almost bitter, "Thinking of Elena?"

Amused black eyes flicked at her, then away. "Katherine, actually."

"You're not exactly cheering me up." It was all she could think to say, she hadn't thought of Katherine in years and had never considered how her memory might still haunt the Salvatore brothers.

"Who said I'm here to cheer you up?" It was a snap, his amiable mood good gone and the churning anger was back.

"Then why are you here?" She stopped walking and turned to him, wine giving her courage. He'd already broken her heart, left her for dead and mocked her enough in this last week to last the rest of her life.

His nostrils flared the tiniest bit and he looked away, holding his silence. Her sharp anger deflated as quickly as it had come, the beauty of his profile striking her just as strongly as her gift did. He'd wanted to leave, needed to leave, but couldn't. He'd been following them since they left Texas, drawn, bound and angry. As much he hated her at the moment, he couldn't stay away from the sobbing girl on the beach and it made him hate himself as well as her. Her next words were soft, pushed by what she couldn't help but see. "You don't know, do you?"

The black eyes came back to hers and she could see the indecision churning in him, the opposite emotions warring in him. He was angry, so terribly angry at everyone, at everything that had happened to her, at her. Yet, there was a relief, a hope that it was finally going to work, a desperate desire not to be alone anymore. She said the only thing made any sense anymore, "Just give it time."

The corner of his mouth quirked up in response, in dark amusement. "I suppose we've got that now, _cara."_

"We do." Bonnie replied, for the first time thinking of eternity without bitterness. She reached for his hand and he stepped back.

He appraised her for a long moment, the churning in him peeking out from behind his walls once more. He wasn't ready for any sort of intimacy yet, any sort of closeness with her, he was still too angry at her betrayals. He took another step back and she sighed, knowing what he was asking.

She nodded at him, she was finally ready for this, finally willing after so many rough years. She gave him the words he needed to hear, the words he needed to leave even if they would hurt for awhile yet. "Go, take your time. I'll wait for you."

There were stars in his black eyes as he changed into a crow, cawing as he took off into the night sky. She finished her thought, finished her promise. _And when you come back, we'll finally start our forever ever after. _

…...


End file.
